Masks and Mirrors
by knoteach
Summary: A Challenge fic for PhoenixEternalFlame. What would have happened if Harry Potter, not Relena Darlian, found Heero Yuy where he washed up on the beach? Bad!Dumbledore Friendship Fic
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Harry and Heero are not mine, never have been, never will be. In this case I can't even claim the plot as that was a challenge that was given out by PhoenixEternalFlame. *pout* About the only thing that I have claim to is the title...I think.

* * *

Masks and Mirrors

knoteach

**Chapter 1**

If anyone had really noticed the quiet figure shuffling down the sidewalk that evening, it would have been obvious the boy was troubled about something. The boy walked slowly with his head bowed, lost in thought; his wild, shaggy black hair falling into his eyes as he contemplated the concrete in front of him. He paid no mind to the traffic roaring passed as he continued out of the city along the coast road.

But no one did, everyone too busy with their daily lives and the threat of war that darkened the horizon of their world. No one noticed the haunted emerald green eyes and distinctive lightning bolt scar on his forehead. No one noticed the ill-fitting clothes and nearly instinctive side-stepping of physical contact.

No one in the city knew that Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, was walking through their city completely alone.

And that was just what Harry wanted.

Harry had been here only a day and a half, but he was already beginning to like it. For the first time he could walk down the street, buy a meal, shop for groceries, and feel completely normal, with no one paying one iota of attention to him. The people were friendly, though a little worried about the currently political situation. With the military installation close by, no one had given it a second thought when he had moved into a small, private house outside of town. Remus would be arriving in a couple days, and the lack of restrictions on underage magic here meant he would be able to start some intensive training.

Even as these thoughts brought a tiny smile to Harry's pale face, the memory of why he was here stole it away.

Harry stopped and wrapped his arms tightly around his chest as the pain of betrayal flared white-hot in his heart. Gasping in an attempt to control his emotions, Harry wrenched his thoughts away from the memories. Glancing around, Harry searched for something, anything, to focus his attention on other than the pain of the past.

Sparing a quick glance at the beginning of the sunset, he pushed the troubling thoughts away, and was about to continue on his walk when he noticed something in the surf. It took Harry only a second to recognize it as a pressurized flight suit used for space travel. Whoever was in it appeared to be trying to get to shore, but the bulky suit wasn't meant for swimming.

His surprise only lasted a second as his mind took the time to register what he was seeing. Harry knew he was supposed to be staying 'under the radar' so to speak, but his 'hero complex' jumped to the front of his mind and kicked his body into gear. Looking back and forth over the twelve foot fence that separated the road from the beach, he found a gate that gave him access. He jumped down the steps, taking them all in one in go to land on all fours in the sand, before running into the surf to pull the now still body onto the beach.

By the time Harry had pulled the body clear of the water, his arms were shaking from the effort. Quidditch might be good for training agility and reflexes, but it apparently didn't do much for bulk muscle, Harry noticed with a grimace. He mentally noted that he would have to ask Remus how to correct that. The shallow water had helped him at the beginning but once the body touched the sand, Harry had to rely purely on his own strength to drag the body up onto dry land; an area that he appeared to be sadly lacking.

Carefully turning the body over, he quickly checked for any obvious injuries while calling to his rescuee. When neither yielded any results, Harry backed up to take stock of the young man. The first things Harry noticed were A) the figure was definitely male, there was no hint of curves on him, B) the boy was no older than Harry himself, and probably younger. Kneeling in the sand beside the suit, Harry guessed his height at maybe 5' 2", and that worried him. Last time Harry checked, the Muggle military did not allow soldiers that young during peace times, and while people might be worried about the Earth's relations with the colonies, there was no open conflict at the moment. So who was he and what was he doing here in what looking like a military flight suit?

Sitting back on his heels, Harry tried to decide what he should do next. The kid was out cold, though breathing easily, so he wasn't an immediate threat right at the moment. Looking around Harry weighed his options.

He knew most people would tell him to just walk away, since it wasn't really his problem, but his conscience killed that thought before it was even fully formed. This kid needed help. He was exhausted from his struggle with the ocean, and Harry had no idea when it would be high tide. If the boy got caught in the tide, he would drown. There was no way in hell he could do that.

He could call for an ambulance, but if he did that it would bring both himself and the pilot to the attention of the authorities and the Alliance. That was something he wanted to avoid, and he was pretty sure that his new friend would too.

The last option, one that was going to get him in a world of trouble with Moony, was to take the boy back to his house and help him there. It was getting late, and the sun was almost totally down now. They needed to get indoors before the temperature dropped any farther. Remus had created an untraceable portkey to the house they were going to be using, so he would be able to get him there without any help.

Making up his mind, Harry pulled the guy into a sitting position, then into a fireman's carry over his right shoulder, staggering slightly as he straightened up. _Yeah, definitely had to do some strength training,_ Harry thought.

Taking a look around, making sure that no one was watching them, he pulled a small locket on a gold chain out from under his shirt and whispered the words to active the Portkey that would take them to his house. Instantly his world was consumed by color and by the familiar pull at the naval as the Portkey whisked him off to his new home.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, a teenage girl contemplating her relationship with her father, walked down the same path only stopping along enough to watch the sunset and a passing plane fly by.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Harry barely kept himself from dumping the pilot on the floor when they arrived. Harry had never been able to land smoothly after portkeys, but he was improving. At least he no longer landed flat on his face.

With a quiet grunt, Harry lugged his armload over to the sofa, laid him down, and tried to arrange him comfortably. Stretching, he attempted to relieve the tension in his muscles. No good. Ouch!

Sighing, Harry turned his attention back to his guest, a bit concerned that he had not regained consciousness while Harry was pushing and pulling him around. Finding the release on the bubble helmet, Harry broke the seal and eased the bulky item off. After getting his first good look at the boy, Harry felt a strange protectiveness in his heart.

The boy in front of him looked to be about fourteen with messy chocolate brown hair and vaguely oriental features. Even asleep though, there was a sense of tension around him that Harry recognized. The boy was a soldier.

Shaking his head in disappointment and sadness, Harry searched for a way to get him out of that flight suit. After a couple of minute, Harry figured it out and started pulling bulky material off the boys thin frame. Tossing the yellow material aside, Harry surveyed the kid. Dressed in just black spandex biking shorts and a green tank top, the boy looked even younger.

With his worry over the boy's continued unconsciousness climbing, Harry fingered his wand. He really shouldn't, since the boy was probably a muggle, but Harry needed to get a better idea of his condition now!

Slipping the holly wand from his sleeve, Harry gently whispered the diagnostic spell Madame Pomphrey had taught him. The results that came up had Harry staring wide-eyed at the boy laid out on the sofa. No wonder he was out of it; he had cracked almost every bone in his body!

Harry dashed into the master bathroom to grab his potions, thankful that the diagnostic had also revealed nominal magic levels in the boy's blood. It wouldn't have been enough to get him into Hogwarts, but it was enough for him to be able to take some Skele-gro and a pain potion. Since those were the only things that Harry had with him, he was thanking Merlin than he had been wrong about the boy being a muggle.

Returning to the living room, he was please to see the boy had shifted a little. Then the thought that if the boy came to he would be feeling all those broken bones intruded, and Harry swiftly moved to the boy's side. Uncorking the pain potion, Harry lifted the vial to the boy's lips. Rubbing the boy's throat, Harry got the two potions down his patient, and followed them with a glass of water to wash away the horrible flavour. Thankfully none of the breaks were serious, so the Skele-gro would be enough to fix them as long as he didn't move around too much.

Sitting back on his heels, Harry waited for the boy to wake up, knowing that, while effective, Skele-gro was not the most comfortable sensation in the world.

When his patient groaned slightly and his eyes fluttered slightly, Harry leaned forward. "Hey, wake up. Are you all right?"

Harry had only a glimpse of confused cobalt blue eyes before the boy bolted off the sofa and adopted a defensive stance against the wall with one hand over his face. "Who are you? Did you see?"

Harry looked at him in confusion for a moment. How did he move like that with the pain he must be in? "If you mean your face, then yes. I found you in the surf outside of the city. I've done what I can to help you, but it needs some more time to finish working. You really shouldn't be moving around while the... medicines are working." Harry could see the suspicion growing in those narrowed blue eyes.

"You're British." It wasn't really a question, but Harry nodded his agreement anyway. "Who are you?" the boy demanded again.

* * *

Heero stared at the boy who was still kneeling beside the sofa, his hands resting on his knees in plain sight. The boy looked to be a year or so older than himself, but he was still rather short with wild black hair and bright green eyes. "Who are you?"

The boy looked nervous for a moment, then said, "I'm called Evan Jameson. I just moved here a couple of days ago."

Something about that seemed off to Heero. "You're lying," he growled as he crouched lower, his free hand slipping toward his hidden holster.

The boy cringed, "Not exactly. That is the name I'm known by here. My real name is Harry James Potter. My mother's maiden name was Evans. There are... certain people that I do not wish to find me, so I adopted the name to throw them off."

Heero cocked his head as he looked at the young man sitting on the floor. He could feel the truth of the boy's words, confusing though they were. "Why are they after you?" The boy didn't look like a criminal or a soldier, so why would someone be chasing him?

The boy snorted in disgust, "Because they're a bunch of backstabbing gits that want to control my life. They want a sacrificial lamb to be lead to the slaughter." Harry shrugged, "I disagreed."

Heero eyed the boy carefully. He was being truthful, but there were still huge blanks in that explanation. "What do you want with me?" he finally demanded.

* * *

Harry sighed heavily as he sat back and pulled his knees up. Propping his arms on his bent knees, Harry explained, "I don't want anything from you. I just wanted to help when I saw you caught in the surf. Merlin, is it so difficult a concept for someone to care for someone other than themselves without wanting something in return? I didn't know who you were. Hell, I still don't know your name."

Harry stared up at the boy's intense eyes, willing him to see his sincerity. Suddenly the boy straightened up from his crouch and dropped that hand that he had been trying to shield his face with.

"Heero," he said suddenly.

"What?" Harry asked in bewilderment.

"My name is Heero," he clarified.

"Heero," Harry tried the name out as he watched his guest relax minutely. It seemed to fit him, but Harry got the idea that the boy's name was Heero about as much as his was Evan. It might be part of his name, but it didn't tell the whole story. In any event, Harry would take what he could get however much he wished he knew what was going on.

"Well, then, Heero, I wasn't kidding when I said you shouldn't move around too much while the p... medicines are working. You really should lie down, or at least sit down," Harry amended when he saw a stubborn light growing in Heero's eyes.

Heero seemed to weigh his options before pulling a chair over to the corner of the room and sitting down, all the while keeping Harry in sight.

Repressing another sigh, Harry slowly stood, and though Heero stiffened, he didn't react negatively.

"Um, why don't I go get you something to eat? I don't have a lot in the house, but I can make some sandwiches." As Harry turned away, he paused, "Look I know you don't know me and can't trust me, but I'd like to help if I can." Looking back at the suspicious blue eyes, Harry continued, "I know what it is like to be used. To be turned into a weapon whether you want it or not. If you want to leave, I won't stop you, but the offer will still be open."

Silently cursing his overly developed 'hero complex', Harry strode off toward the kitchen not noticing the stunned expression on Heero's face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Harry was only slightly surprised to find Heero still in his corner when he returned from the kitchen. Observing his young guest as he walked farther into the room, Harry could just barely detect a tightness around his eyes and mouth indicating the discomfort he was in from the skele-gro. A glance at the clock showed Harry that Heero still had at least another hour before the potion finished working. Mentally, Harry winced in commiseration. Heero might not be have bones regrowing, but he would still be suffering from a bone deep ache similar to deep muscle bruising. And with the number of bones that had been broken, it would be all over his body instead of localized in one place.

"Hope you like ham and cheese; it's all I had on hand. My guardian isn't going to get here until tomorrow," Harry said as he held the plate of sandwiches out to Heero.

Heero looked at him in suspicion, but took one of the sandwiches from the plate anyway. Harry selected a sandwich for himself then turned and set the plate on the table beside the couch. Harry was a surprised to find the sandwich pulled from his hand and the one Heero had taken shoved into it. Looking at where the brown haired boy was still staring at him with suspicion in his eyes, Harry smiled slightly and took a bite of the sandwich.

With his paranoia somewhat appeased, Heero took a tentative bite of his own sandwich while keeping a close eye on the older boy in the room. The other boy confused him. Heero could only remember one time in his life that someone had been kind to him simply because they wanted to. Not to be a cliché, but 'because it was the right thing to do.' And she hadn't survived another twenty-four hours due to his mistake.

Granted a five-year old handing him a flower after a chance meeting in the park was a lot different from a teenager dragging him out of the ocean and taking him home to treat his injuries, but Heero couldn't help but remember the incident and compare the two. Harry was older than him, though probably only by a year or so. He was living on his own at the moment. He seemed competent and had a knowledge of medicine that indicated he had spent a lot of time around professionals, so either his 'guardian' was a doctor or he had spent more time than was healthy in hospitals. Noticing the scars decorating the boy's hands and arms, Heero had a feeling that the latter was the case.

"Why did you come here?" Heero suddenly asked to break the silence.

Harry looked up in surprise. "You mean, why did I move here?"

Heero nodded and gave an indistinct, "Hn."

"I came here because no one will know me here," Harry said truthfully. "I'm... quite well-known in some circles at home in England, and I needed to get away from them. I need to learn and live my life without them breathing down my neck, trying to push me into things." Harry looked at the young pilot and sighed, "Heero, I don't know why you are here, but it seems obvious that you are part of the rebel resistance. Not that I particularly care," Harry hurriedly added when Heero tensed and started to stand. "I've got enough trouble of my own. The colonies aren't the only ones that have issues with the way things are going on Earth. My fight is in England, but our so-called leaders are more concerned with retaining their power and position than defending our people."

Heero nodded his understanding. Watching the boy carefully, Heero said, "I must leave soon."

Harry nodded and glanced at the clock again. "The... medicines should have run their course in another fifteen minutes, then it will be safe for you to move around as much as you want."

Heero nodded and finished his sandwich. After waiting the fifteen minutes, Heero carefully stood, still keeping a close eye on Harry.

Harry, seeing that his guest was starting to move, stood and moved away from the boy. The suspicious look he was given saddened him, but he understood that Heero didn't mean anything personal, it was just the way he had been trained. He could only wonder what kind of childhood the boy must have had for him to react like this. Had he even had one at all? Or had he, like Harry, been sacrificed for the 'Greater Good'? He only hoped Heero had been given more of a choice than he had as he watched Heero gather his flight suit and helmet.

"You have some place to go, right?" Harry suddenly asked as Heero turned toward the door.

Heero glanced over his shoulder, but continued his exit. "My needs have been sufficiently provided for."

Harry scowled a little, since that wasn't a very reassuring answer, but figured that was as good of an answer as he was going to get.

Heero had just gotten to the front door when he suddenly stopped and turned back to his confusing host. "I should kill you," Heero said quietly to Harry's utter shock, confusion colouring his voice just a little. "I was ordered to leave no witnesses to my mission, yet I cannot make myself even threaten you."

Harry swallowed hard, then smiled wanly, "Well, thanks for that. I've gotten rather sick of people trying to kill me over the years."

Heero stared at him for a few more moments, but did not ask what Harry meant by that. Instead Heero gave a traditional Japanese bow and murmured, "Arigatou."

Harry smiled a little more as he returned the bow and answered, "You're welcome, Heero."

With that, Heero slipped out the door and disappeared.

Harry stood in the end of his living room for a few minutes, before striding to the door and throwing the deadbolt lock. Leaning back against the door, Harry tried to calm the trembling in his hands. He wasn't even sure if he was trembling from fear or anger.

He wasn't ashamed to admit that Heero had scared him a bit. He had been perfectly honest when he said he should kill him, but worse than that was someone had to have trained him to do it. Someone had taken that boy and tried to train all emotion out of him. They had tried to turn him into a cold-blooded murderer. And it looked like they had almost succeeded, too, but some glimmer of human emotion still existed in the boy's heart.

As anger at Heero's 'trainers' grew, Harry's fear burned away. Fuming, Harry stalked off to his bedroom to grab the book he had been studying the day before. There wasn't much for him to do here, so Harry had taken to studying his books in the evenings. He wouldn't have nearly as much free time after he started school, so he wanted to get a head start.

After another few hours, Harry sighed and placed a bookmark in the Defence book he had been reading. It was time to head for bed, whether Harry wanted to or not. Harry knew that the dreams would come again tonight, as they had every night since Sirius death that he didn't take Dreamless Sleep. How he was tempted! The only thing that stopped him was the idea of becoming addicted to the potion. He had taken the potion for the last two nights while he moved, but he would now have to wait three days before he could take it again.

Harry grabbed his pyjamas and headed off for a fast shower. Twenty minutes later, he was turning out the light and slipping under the blankets. Tomorrow Remus would arrive and he could really start practicing; it was something to look forward to at least.

* * *

_The first thing Harry noticed as he regained consciousness was that his head was pounding. The second was the astringent smell he always associated with the hospital wing. Opening his eyes, Harry found himself in one of the small private rooms off the back of the main ward of the hospital wing._

'_Bloody hell! What did I do this time?' Harry groaned mentally, while trying to remember what had landed him here this time._

_It only took a few seconds, then Harry was drowning in memories. The vision, Snape, Umbridge, the thestrals, the Department of Mysteries,...SIRIUS!_

_Harry gasped quietly as the memory of Sirius being thrown backwards through the veil played through his mind. Sirius was dead, and it was all his fault._

_Even as he lay silent, tears slipping down his face, Harry noticed the sound of voices in the outer ward and bit his lip to keep from making any sound. He didn't want them to know he was awake; he didn't know how he was going to face Ron and Hermione, Professor Dumbledore, or worst of all Remus!_

"_It's too bad it isn't over, Albus," Harry recognized Molly Weasley's voice from behind the door._

"_Perhaps, but I believe it is still too early, Molly," Professor Dumbledore's voice replied. _

"_But he's getting more and more dangerous!" Molly hissed, seeming to shout even as she tried to keep her voice down. "My babies almost died tonight, Albus! Ron is getting sick of this charade, and so am I. It's too dangerous!"_

"_Now, now, Molly, they weren't in that much danger with the protection charms I have on them. Ron merely has a headache from the brains, and Ginny twisted her ankle. Nothing to worry about. No, next year, we'll raise the dosages. He seems to have something of a natural immunity to the Amortentia. Not surprising since he does have a lot of raw power, but he cannot hold out forever. After Harry proposes to Ginny, we'll have a quick wedding, due to the threat of Voldemort, of course."_

_Harry listened in horror as Albus and Molly chuckled. Amortentia? That was the most potent love potion in the wizarding world! Ginny had been giving him Amortentia! It did explain the sudden turn his emotions had taken this year, but Harry didn't want to believe it. Even as he was trying to deny what he was hearing, the Headmaster continued._

"_After that, a few potions to ensure a quick pregnancy, and we will be ready for him to complete his destiny. Once that is done, Ginny will be a very rich widow. I'm sure she will be disappointed for a time, but she will eventually see that this was the way it had to be. That boy is simply too dangerous to let live."_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Harry woke with a gasp just after Dumbledore pronounced his death sentence on Harry. Sitting up hurriedly, Harry impatiently dashed his hand at the tears that trickled down his face. It did no good to cry, Harry reminded himself. It was cold comfort, but Harry was almost grateful for that conversation. If he hadn't overheard them, he would more than likely have fallen for their plans.

Sighing, Harry slowly got out of bed and headed for the bathroom to take a shower, thinking of the rest of the conversation. Dumbledore had outlined his plans to have Snape continue the 'Occlumency Lessons,' which would continue to open Harry's connection to Voldemort. Harry had been shocked when he had heard Dumbledore laugh at how easy Snape was making Dumbledore's work.

Apparently, Occlumency training was intended to be given in three levels. The first tier was Meditation training to teach the student how to clear their minds. After that was came Defensive Occlumency, teaching the student how to build walls around their mind, and the third tier, Offensive Occlumency, repelling attacks by a Legimens. Snape had been assign as Harry's Third Tier instructor while Harry had never received training in any other parts of Occlumency.

Contrary to what Snape had insinuated, Harry had tried to study on his own, but there were no books about Occlumency in the school library, and when he had casually asked Madam Pince about it, he had found that Legimency and Occlumency were considered Restricted Arts by the ministry. To even buy books about the topics, you had to have special permission from the ministry. Perhaps he should have been more suspicious then, but he had trusted that Dumbledore knew what he was doing.

Dumbledore's master plan had been simple and frighteningly vicious. As the connection between Harry and Voldemort grew, so would the possibility that the death of one would kill the other. He would marry Ginny and Harry off, ensure a pregnancy to continue the Potter family line, and push Harry to the point that his death would pull Voldemort down with him. Simple, ingenious, and utterly horrific.

As Harry dried himself off and got dressed for the day, he shook his head and banished the gloomy thoughts. Remus was coming today.

Harry had faked being asleep when Dumbledore and Mrs. Weasley finally entered his room, but when Remus came in an hour later, he hadn't been able to fool the Werewolf's senses. Harry smiled bitterly as he remembered that conversation.

* * *

"_I know you're awake, Harry. Stop pretending," Harry recognized the soft voice next to his ear._

_Opening his eyes and turning his head slowly, Harry looked at the man he had considered a second godfather for the last two years. "Did you know?" he whispered brokenly as tears slipped down his face._

"_Sh, there's no need to cry, Harry. Did I know what?" Remus soothed as he brushed unruly bangs out of the boy's eyes._

_Harry just looked up at the man for a moment, considering if he could trust him. He had thought he could trust Dumbledore and look how that turned out! Looking at the soft, pained amber eyes looking at him, Harry knew that he had been right about Remus, even if he had not been right about anyone else. _

"_Dumbledore is going to kill me, Remus," Harry whispered, his voice breaking and eyes downcast. "I heard him talking to Mrs. Weasley. Ginny's been giving me Amortentia, and after we marry and they get her pregnant, they'll get rid of me. Snape's lessons have been opening the connection between me and Voldemort, and soon if one of us dies, both of us will die. I don't want to die, Remus..."_

_Remus eye's had widened when Harry first spoke, but as Harry rambled, he gazed hardened and heated in anger. Finally Remus laid one finger on Harry's mouth to stop the outpour of words. "Are you sure of what you heard, Harry? Are you absolutely positive?"_

_Harry looked straight into Remus glowing golden eyes and nodded, "Yes."_

_Growling a lot like Moony, Remus started pacing and mumbling under his breath. After a couple of minutes, he asked, "What was that about Snape's lessons?" without breaking stride._

"_Dumbledore had him giving me Third Tier Occlumency lessons without having First and Second Tier lessons first. It's just been widening the connection between Voldemort and me."_

_Remus stopped pacing and stared at Harry in horror. After a minute, he stated emphatically, "I'm going to get you out of here, Harry. We'll go somewhere else; get you training. I won't let them use you like that."_

* * *

Harry remembered fondly the stunned expression on Remus face when Harry had lunged off the bed to hug him. Over the last couple weeks of the term, Remus and Harry had covertly corresponded and ironed out plans to leave England the day after the school year ended.

He had returned to Privet Drive and immediately informed the Dursleys that he would not be returning there again, ever if he could help it. For the first time in his life, Vernon and Petunia had seemed happy about something he was doing. He had gathered up the few things that were his and immediately headed for Diagon Alley. After a trip to Gringotts, Harry had an international portkey and a promise that Remus would be joining him in two days. He just had to put a few things in place to throw Dumbledore off his track.

Now it was the middle of June, and Harry was looking forward to joining a local school on Monday.

It would have shocked most people to know that Harry Potter loved to learn. Harry had a sense of curiosity only slightly lower than a cat, and loved to find out new and interesting things. Harry had had to repress that longing at Privet Drive after finding out that a higher test score than Dudley would lead to a very painful beating. After arriving at Hogwarts with no clue where to even start his studying, Harry was so desperate to make friends. After meeting Ron, he had a nagging suspicion the redhead would not take well to having a brainy friend, something he proven quite blatantly with his treatment of Hermione those first couple of months, though Harry now had to wonder how much of that was staged.

Over the years, Harry perfected the art of slipping out of the dorm without being heard so that he could go the library to read. It had been tiring to be sure, but well worth the missed sleep. He never did it more than a couple times a week, so he wouldn't compromise his health, but he longed to be able to just curl up in a corner with some of those fascinating books and let the world bloody well take care of itself for a while.

Shaking his head at the collective idiocy of Wizarding Britain, Harry finished his breakfast and glanced at the clock. Remus should be here soon, so Harry grabbed his Defence book and headed for the living room, where Remus's portkey was set to arrive.

Settling into a comfortable chair, Harry opened his book, idly wondering how Hedwig was doing. He frowned a little as he thought of his avian friend. Headmaster Dumbledore had confined Hedwig to the aviary at Hogwarts, stating that the white bord was entirely too distinctive and migght leac the Death Eaters to Harry if she were spotted, leaving Harry with no way to contact anyone in the wizarding world even if he had been staying in England. In a way it was good for his cover, since no one would be worried when they didn't hear form him, but Harry found he missed her quiet companionship. Still when they finally realized he was gone, they would probably release her in an attemp to find him, but until then she should be safe and confortable at Hogwarts. Hagrid would see to that, at least.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Harry was just beginning the last chapter of his book when the magic in the room shifted and Remus appeared out of thin air.

"Moony!" Harry grinned as he set the book aside and stood to give his former teacher a hug in welcome. Before going to Hogwarts, Harry could never remember being hugged, but now he had come to rather enjoy the tactile sensation of just being held in affection.

"Hello to you too, Cub," Remus smiled as he returned the enthusiastic greeting. After a minute or two, Harry backed off and Remus looked him up and down. "Well, it doesn't look like those two days alone did you any harm, that's good. So how have you been?"

Harry went back to his chair as Remus took a seat on the sofa. "I've looked around the town a bit. There's a big military base here, so the people here don't give newcomers a second glance. Everyone I've met is friendly and helpful."

Remus smiled a little at the happiness on his adopted godson's face. It was good to see Harry enjoying life a bit. However even as he listened to Harry chatter on, there was something bothering him, and he could put his finger on it. Taking a deep breath to calm his thoughts, Remus suddenly realized what it was that was bugging him. There was the scent of someone else in the room, someone besides Harry had been in this room less than twenty-four hours ago. Casting a concerned glance at the young man sitting across the room, Remus interrupted his rambling, "Harry, was someone here yesterday?" They had strong wards up and, if someone had gotten through them, they could be in a lot of danger.

Harry stifled his flinch at Remus question. He should have known Remus would know something was up. "What do you mean, Remus?" Harry tried to bluff his way out of the question, but to no avail.

* * *

The next morning found Heero watching the school he would be entering the next day, but while he subconsciously catalogued all the residents, entrances, exists, and a million other details, he wondered about the boy he had met the day before.

Harry was a mystery that Heero was determined to solve.

The boy cared about people, that much was obvious, but why?

After leaving the boy's house last night, Heero had headed into the city to the drop Dr. J had set up for him. After stashing most of the stuff besides his laptop and his new school uniforms, Heero had started investigating one Harry James Potter, and what he found was ... strange.

Harry James Potter had been born July 31 A.C. 179 and orphaned fifteen months later. After the murders of his parents during a home invasion, he seemed to disappear. Social Services had no records on him. No one had filed for guardianship. Nothing. There were no legal or government records of the boy for over three years, until he entered school at the age of five. He had been registered for school by a Vernon and Petunia Dursley. A little investigation had turned up the fact that Petunia Dursley was Harry's maternal aunt. It was a logical placement, but why were there no records! For the next six years, there were reports and records of a below average student with a propensity for trouble. From what Heero had read, every year Harry's teachers were warned that the boy was trouble and advised to use a heavy hand to keep him in line if necessary.

After that, he disappeared again. He had been set to start at a local high school when he was eleven, but a month before school began, the school received notice that the boy was being transferred to a private boarding school in Scotland. After that, Harry Potter never appeared in the official records again. The school that he had supposedly transferred to didn't even exist as far as Heero could tell. True, there were a multitude of small private schools that he could have gone to, but Heero had been feeling uneasy, something he really didn't like.

After the puzzling official records, Heero had started hacking to see what he could come up with, and the picture of the life of Harry James Potter got a lot worse.

While the official records of the boy were spotty, the boy's medical records were more complete, and much more damning. From the time his parents died to the time he entered school, he was taken to the hospital no less that once a month for everything from broken bones to infected wounds to pneumonia. At least dozen reports of suspected abuse or neglect had been filed, but they all mysteriously disappeared. After the boy started school, the visits to the hospital slowed during the school year, but during the holiday breaks, it was back to their previous frequency. Most worrying of all was that all of it stopped dead when the boy went off to the 'private boarding school.' If Heero hadn't met the boy less than twelve hours ago, he would have been wondering if the aunt and uncle had finally killed him.

Shaking his head at the tangle of mysteries surrounding the black-haired boy, he went back to his observations. While the mystery of Harry Potter was perplexing, he had a mission to complete, and the next portion of it revolved around this place, St. Gabriel's Institute.

* * *

Remus scowled slightly at Harry. Harry was many things, but an accomplished liar was not one of them. Remus was at a loss to explain the times Harry had been able to lie his way out of trouble, since the boy's face was an open book. "Harry." Remus tone was serious and warned the boy not to play around with him.

Harry sighed in resignation. "I found a boy in trouble just outside the city yesterday. He was really out of it, so I brought him back here and patched him up some. I gave him a sandwich and then he left. That's all that happened, Remus. I promise."

Remus looked at him sceptically for a moment, then sighed and nodded. He should have known it was something like that. For as much as Ron and Hermione had turned out to be backstabbing traitors, Hermione did have one thing right. Harry definitely had a compulsion to help people.

"Very well, I will not ask more. I know you know what you are doing, Harry."

Harry smiled at Remus's confidence in him. It was nice to have someone that believed he could take care of himself. For the most part at least.

"So are you ready for school tomorrow?" Remus asked, changing the subject.

Harry nodded, "I picked up my books and uniform yesterday."

Remus frowned slightly in thought, "What was the name of the place again? St. Gribbon's?"

Harry smiled at the werewolf, "St. Gabriel, Remus. St. Gabriel's Institute is supposed to be the best school for at least a hundred miles."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Monday morning found Heero sitting in his new uniform suit outside the school office before 7:00 waiting for the Matron.

"Ah, Mr. Yuy, you're early," the elderly nun stated, quite unnecessarily to Heero's way of thinking, but he just nodded in agreement. "Come, let's take your luggage to your room. We don't usually have many boarding students join us after the year starts. We'll get you settled in then head for the assembly hall to join the others."

"Of course," Heero muttered as he stood and grabbed the two suitcases that held his clothes and other necessities. Following the school matron into the dorms, Heero stepped into his new room and set the cases down. Listening as she outlined the dorm rules and timetable, Heero realized he would have to sneak into the administration building soon to clear up his records.

"Well, we should head over to the assembly hall and meet up with Sister Stephanie and Mr. Jameson. Follow me, Mr. Yuy," the Matron said as she headed back out the door, never noticing the sharp look Heero shot her at the second name.

_Jameson? Wasn't that the name Potter said he was going by here?_ Heero mused.

* * *

7:35 found Harry and Remus standing outside that same school office, waiting for one of the sisters to arrive. He had been ready for the last hour, bugging Remus asking if it was time to go yet. Remus had finally laughed and taken him over a little early, while enjoying the boy's enthusiasm.

"Hello, Mr. Lupin and Mr. Jameson, I'm Sister Stephanie," a middle-aged nun greeted them, before leading them into the office. "I'll be answering any questions you have, then I'll take Evan to the opening assembly."

Remus and Harry nodded their understanding, then Remus asked, "I was wondering how Evan's test scores came out?"

Sister Stephanie pulled a folder out of the stack on her desk before turning back to Remus, "Well considering what you've told us about the past two years, he did not do too badly. He is significantly behind in the maths and sciences, but his language and comprehension skills are quite good. He should be able to make up the lack in no time. I would also like to express my condolences on your loss." The last sentence was added quietly as she cast Harry a sympathetic look.

Harry closed his eyes as he thought of Sirius, grief and pain flashing across his face. Remus wrapped a comforting arm around the boy's shoulders as he nodded to the Sister.

According to the story they had given the school, Harry had spent most of the last two years caring for his sick and dying godfather who had passed away less than a month ago. They had also taken advantage of his small stature and listed his age as fourteen, rather than fifteen. Between the two, Remus had hoped Harry would be starting at a more even footing with his classmates.

After a few more minutes of small talk, Sister Stephanie glanced at the clock and stood. "It's almost time for the morning assembly, so we should head over to the Assembly Hall. The Matron will meet us there with another new student that will be joining us today."

As Harry and Remus followed the tall nun out of the office, they shared a concerned glance. _Another new student?_

"Who is he?" Harry asked. Could they have caught up with him already?

"Mr. Yuy is a boarding student that is joining us today. He'll be in your class actually. I hope the two of you will be friends, since I know how hard it can be to make friends when you come in after the start of the school year," Sister Stephanie smiled as she looked over at Harry.

Harry smiled back, but shared another glance with Remus. They would have to be cautious; if the Order had caught up with them they would have to make a fast retreat.

The sister stopped outside a small antechamber and turned to Harry and Remus, "It has been a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lupin." She extended her hand for a hand shake, politely telling Remus it was time for him to leave.

Remus smiled pleasantly, though those that knew him well would have noticed that the smile was little strained. "Likewise, Sister. I'm sure Evan is in good hands. I'll pick you up right after classes, Evan." The last was said while looking directly into the boy's eyes, silent messages flying back and forth.

Harry watched Remus walk away, before turning and following the sister into the antechamber. The door had only just closed before it was opened again and the Matron walked in, followed by a very familiar figure.

Harry bit down hard on his automatic, "Heero!" just in case that was not the name the boy was going by here, while doing his best to keep his recognition off his face.

"Mr. Yuy, this is Mr. Evan Jameson. He'll be joining your class today as well. Mr. Jameson, this is Mr. Heero Yuy. He's decided to board with us for the rest of the year," the Matron introduced them, before nodding to Sister Stephanie and leaving them alone.

* * *

Heero wasn't sure whether he should be surprised or not when the other new student turned out to be Harry. There were not that many good schools in the area, and St. Gabriel's was considered the best of them, if a bit expensive. He was surprised when the Matron announced that Harry was going to be in his class, though. According to his research, Harry should be a year ahead of him, since he would be sixteen in a little over a month.

"I'll lead you in, then you two will need to introduce yourselves to the class," Sister Stephanie waited until both boys nodded their understanding, then turned to the second door and lead them into the meeting hall.

The meeting hall was fairly large, designed like an old-fashioned Lyceum hall, with rows of desks on ascending levels. Many of the students waiting in the hall looked bored, but as Sister Stephanie stepped up onto the platform, they straightened up and gave her their full attention, telling Heero that she was probably a good teacher.

"Good Morning, Class. Today we have two new students joining us," Sister Stephanie announced as she looked to the two boys that had followed her up on to the platform.

Heero maintained his usually stoic straight face as he said, "My name is Heero Yuy. It's a pleasure."

* * *

Harry couldn't entirely hide his smile at Heero entirely unemotional introduction. He wasn't even sure why it struck him as funny, but it did. Schooling his face into a pleasant, but indifferent expression, he said, "My name is Evan Jameson. How do you do?"

"Please make them feel welcome to our class," Sister Stephanie continued talking to the class, before turning to Heero and Harry. "Why don't you take the free desks on the sixth row by Relena? Feel free to ask her any questions you have."

Glancing up at the smiling Sister who was pointing to a pretty, dark blond girl straight ahead of the platform, the two nodded their understanding. Heero and Harry walked in tandem up the steps to the sixth row and sat down with Heero taking the aisle seat and leaving Harry the seat beside their new classmate.

Harry was a little startled when the girl piped up, "Nice to meet you, Evan, Heero."

Harry glanced at her for a moment out of the corner of his eye before bowing his head just slightly in polite acknowledgement, but he kept the majority of his attention on the teacher at the front of the class. The lesson was starting, and he didn't want to miss a thing. He had five years of lost Muggle education to make up for.

Heero soundly ignored the girl; he had no time for flirtatious females.

* * *

Relena scowled just slightly when the two new boys paid more attention the sister than to her. She was used to being the center of attention and wasn't sure how to react when the two didn't pay her any mind. At least Evan had acknowledged that she had spoken, Heero hadn't even glanced her way.

The two newcomers intrigued her, making it hard for her to keep her mind on the lesson being taught. Both of them were rather cute, to Relena's way of thinking anyway. And Evan's accent, wow! She might only be fourteen, but Relena Darlian had already discovered she liked that accent.

Relena kept sneaking glances at the two throughout the lesson, wondering who they were and what they would be like. She just had to get to know them.

Her birthday party was in just a couple of days, maybe she should invite them? Yes, she'd invite them to the party. After her disappointing trip to the colonies, Relena thought these two would help liven the party up nicely.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Harry's first classes at St. Gabriel were a whirlwind of new information and new people. Harry met each of his new teachers and listened to their lectures, finding the lessons just as interesting as he remembered from his life before Hogwarts. There were some times when he wished he could use his wand, but he enjoyed his morning classes immensely nonetheless.

The only uncomfortable part of the morning was the other new student in the class.

Heero wasn't really **doing** anything to make him uncomfortable. It was more of the fact that Harry wasn't sure how to react to the quiet young man. Should he pretend they had never met? Would it be better for him to admit they knew each other? It was awkward in the extreme.

Harry shot a glance at the brown-haired boy that walked beside him toward the cafeteria. After choosing their lunch, Harry and Heero silently walked over to a secluded table near the balcony doors where they ate in silence. After quickly finishing their meal, Harry glanced at the deserted balcony, before looking back at his mysterious classmate. Harry cocked his head in question, eyebrows raised.

Heero, seeing the deserted balcony, headed out the doors, seemingly for some fresh air before classes started again. Harry smiled just slightly and followed the other boy out of the cafeteria.

The two walked over to the walk surrounding the balcony, silently contemplating the view. Harry wasn't really surprised when he spotted Remus sitting in his car on the street outside the school. Smiling, Harry waved slightly to the worried werewolf indicating that everything was fine.

"Your guardian?" Heero asked quietly, having caught both the gesture and the relaxation of the man sitting in the car across the street.

Harry glanced at Heero out of the corner of his eye as he watched Remus drive off. "Yeah, he was a little worried when the Sister mentioned that there was another new student coming into my class."

Heero nodded his understanding, but kept silent.

"So, how do you want to play this?" Harry asked as he turned toward the other boy.

Heero didn't answer right away, just scowled and grunted. After a couple moments of thought, he said, "It would be less suspicious for me to be seen with at least one companion while I am here. Would that be acceptable?"

Harry smiled slightly and nodded. "Sure, I'd be glad to be your friend. It'll be nice to have someone to talk to."

Heero eyed his black-haired classmate. The concept of friends was not one he was very familiar with, but as he understood it a friend was a person that you trusted for help and support. While Heero was still suspicious of this boy, he couldn't deny that Harry had helped him. He knew he should have been in pretty bad shape after the battle with the OZ mobile suits yesterday. When he had abandoned Wing, he had been in a significant amount of pain, yet when he woke he had only been extremely sore and even that had faded as he sat in the young man's living room. As far as Heero could tell, Potter had not said a word about him to the authorities. "Accepted."

Harry smiled brightly, "Great. So how do you like St. Gabriel's so far?"

Heero frowned slightly at the inanity of that question until he noticed that Harry was glancing frequently back toward the cafeteria doors. Sneaking a peek over his shoulder, Heero noticed that several of the girls from their class were gathering by the doors as if they were waiting for something or someone. "The classes here have been interesting so far," Heero responded, his voice completely flat.

The two kept a light conversation going while watching the group by the doors, wondering what they were up to. It was only ten minutes later when someone pushed the door open and the group spilled out onto the balcony portico. Harry was slightly surprised when the girl from their first class, Relena, pushed her way to the front of the crowd and started walking toward them.

Relena walked up to the two boys, with a pair of white envelopes in her hands, a group of seven or eight other girls following her over.

Harry couldn't figure out what in the world was going on, but kept the expression on his face politely pleasant.

"Here you go," Relena said lightly as she handed one of the envelopes to each of the two boys. "They're invitations to my birthday tomorrow. I hope you can make it to the party." She gave them a smile, a hint of smugness colouring her expression and voice. The sound of applause and murmured approvals rose from the group watching.

Harry was a bit surprised when Relena handed him the invitation, but that shock quickly turned to annoyance and a hint of disgust at her actions. This was almost as bad as Malfoy on the train before first year. Draco might have been more blatant and rude, but attitude was exactly the same. _"You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.*" _Merlin, even in a place where he wasn't 'the-boy-who-lived,' people were still trying to control him! He hadn't even been in this place one day! Well, not this time!

Heero just looked blankly at the envelope. Why in the world would he want to go to a party for a girl he had barely met? Glancing sideways, Heero was slight surprised to see anger growing in Potter's eyes. When Harry looked his way and locked eyes with him, he suddenly knew exactly what Harry wanted to do.

In perfect unison, Harry and Heero lifted the invitations and ripped them in half, top to bottom, letting the fragments flutter to the ground.

* * *

Relena smiled as she handed the invitations to the two cute new students. This was going to be the best party of the year!

She watched intently as they were about to open the envelopes, then gasped in shock when they both ripped the invitations in half and dropped them on the ground.

Turning slightly away from them, her eyes started to tear up as she whispered, "But...but why?"

Heero brushed passed the girl without a glance, but Harry paused for just a moment to murmur, "I dislike being used, Miss Darlian. Heero and I are not here to be entertainment for you and your friends." With a final scowl in the direction of the twittering group of girls that had stood by watching the entire scene, Harry stalked off after Heero.

Relena just stared after the two boys in shock.

* * *

Harry fumed all the way to his next class, even after he caught up with Heero. Both boys were silent as they found seats and waited for the class to begin. When Relena entered the room and moved to a seat beside them, both boys decided to ignore her existence.

For the rest of the day, Relena stuck close to the two mysterious boys, trying to catch their attention but failing at every turn. After classes were over, Harry and Heero quickly left the class to avoid the girl who would just not take the hint and go away!

Walking toward the front door, Harry glanced at the younger boy. "Until tomorrow?"

Heero nodded as he turned toward the on-campus dorms.

Harry watched him walk off, before turning toward where he could see Remus leaning against his car.

* * *

That evening after Harry had finished his homework and training, both Harry and Remus were relaxing before heading for bed.

"So you're guest ended up being the other new student?" Remus asked, trying to clarify things in his own mind.

"Yeah, His name's Heero. He's really quiet. I don't think he's had a lot of friends. He kind of reminds me of myself a couple of years ago," Harry said sadly. Looking at Heero was like looking into a funhouse mirror, with his desire for acceptance replaced with Heero's mission. It was depressing but true.

Remus frowned at the scent of sadness he caught coming from Harry. "I'm sure things will get better for him, Harry." Remus smiled slightly before continuing, "He has you now. What more could he need?"

Harry grinned back. "So the Order has been taken care of?"

Remus smirked at Harry's not very subtle change of subject. "Of course. Dumbledore learned the hard way not to come looking for me after your parent's death. Albus has seen what I can do when I'm angry. As far as the order knows, I've disappeared in order to mourn for Sirius." Both Remus and Harry flinched ever so slightly at the mention of the name, but Remus pushed on in his explanation. "The only reason I returned last time was because he offered me the chance to be the DADA teacher, then I stayed for both you and Sirius."

Harry nodded. Having seen Remus when he was angry once, though thankfully it had not been aimed at him at the time, Harry could only imagine what Remus had said and done to get Dumbledore to back off.

After a glance at the clock, Harry stood and stretched, "Well, it's time for me to head to bed. See you in the morning."

Remus smiled as he nodded, "See you in the morning, Cub."

* * *

The smile fell from Remus face as he watched Harry walk into the bathroom for another shower.

When Harry had told him what he had overheard in the hospital wing, his first reaction had been blind rage. How dare that old bastard threaten his cub! Now his rage had settled into a slowly burning fire. Dumbledore would get what was coming to him, but he would do Harry no good if he went out and got himself arrested or killed.

Since then, he had found himself watching Harry very carefully, and what he was seeing made him very uneasy.

Harry would jump at any unexpected physical contact. Loud sounds made the boy flinch every time. He always waited until Remus had served himself from every dish, before taking anything for himself. And strangest of all to Remus was his compulsive need to shower.

* * *

*_Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, p. 108 US Ed._


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The next day Harry arrived early for classes and headed toward the cafeteria to see if he could track Heero down. Glancing around the crowd of boarding students, Harry spotted the taciturn boy sitting by himself off to the side.

"Morning, Heero," Harry greeted cheerfully.

"Hn," Heero grunted nodding slightly, wondering why Harry had to be so cheerful at 7:30 in the morning.

Harry gave his friend a lopsided grin. Apparently Heero was not a morning person. "So what do you have planned for today?"

Heero raised an eyebrow, but didn't answer.

"Oh, come on, Heero," Harry mock wheedled, though making sure to keep his voice down. "I can cover for you better if I know when I need to."

Heero cocked his head to the side and thought for a moment. That was logical, but he really didn't want to drag this boy into his problems. Still, he was offering his help and this wouldn't compromise anything. Nodding slightly, Heero said, "I've arranged to challenge the horsemanship class. After the challenge, I will have the period free to do as I wish. I would appreciate it if people were not searching me out during my free time, Jameson."

Harry nodded his understanding. "I'll do my best. And call me Evan, will you?" Heero grunted, but did not agree or disagree with his request.

Harry and Heero sat quietly for a few more minutes, until Heero suddenly stiffened. Harry immediately started looking around to find the reason for his friend's sudden tension. He spotted a group of girls by the cafeteria doors, including their stalker from the day before, Relena Darlian.

Glancing back at his chocolate haired friend, Harry quickly stood and headed for their first class with Heero matching his movements exactly. Since there was no assigned seating, Heero and Harry chose seats in the back row, as far back in the shadows as they could get. With any luck she would have gotten over her obsession yesterday, but they weren't taking any chances.

* * *

Luck was with them.

Relena only joined the class ten minutes before the hour, so all of the seats near them were full. Harry was fairly sure she had been looking for them when she entered, but it didn't seem like she spotted them in the sea of students.

After the bell rang to signal the end of the period, Harry grabbed his schedule to see what was next.

_Let's see...Tuesday, second period is...fencing?_ Harry grinned. Ever since his second year, Harry had been fascinated with swords and fencing. He had found an old duelling chamber on the seventh floor with many different kinds of swords and several practice dummies and would sneak in there to practice with the different blades. He'd searched through the library for books on fencing. True there was only so much he could learn from books and practice dummies. Now he had a chance to really learn something. _Yes!_

"Come on, Heero," Harry said as he excitedly grabbed the other boy's arm and started pulling him toward the fencing arena locker rooms.

Heero tensed when he felt a hand latch on to his forearm, and it took significant effort for him to stop the almost instinctive urge to fight off the touch. Looking at his companion, Heero noticed the shine in the boy's eyes. Mentally, Heero reviewed their schedule to figure out what had the boy so excited. Their next class was...fencing? Harry had always seemed to be a gentle young man, but there was a gleam in his eyes now that Heero recognized. Speeding up slightly, Heero suppressed a grin at Harry's excitement. "Class will not start without you, Jameson," Heero stated. Harry had seemed so mature when Heero had been at his house and again yesterday; it was interesting to see him become so excited and start acting his age. Harry was only fifteen, after all.

"Yeah, I know, but this is going to be so great, Heero! And it's Evan, remember?" Harry said, still trying to hurry his friend up.

Within another five minutes, they arrived at the Fencing Arena. After all of the class assembled, the fencing instructor ran through the class safety precautions and sent them off to dress in their padded uniforms. When they all returned, the instructor started pairing them off for practice, so he could gage each student's proficiency level.

Seeing the instructor waving them forward, Harry and his partner, a blond that had been shooting him angry looks for some reason, stepped into an empty section of the padded floor and put on their helmets.

"Hey, Evan, buddy. I heard you and Heero ripped up Relena's invitations yesterday? What did you do a thing like that for?" the blond sneered at the black-haired boy.

As Harry brought his rapier to engarde and salute, he suppressed the desire to roll his eyes. So that was what had him all in a huff.

As the blonde, who was starting to remind Harry strongly of Malfoy, started slashing away at him with no real finesse, he continued his rant. "I'm a classmate of hers, so I'm kind of choked you treated her like that. Aren't you ashamed of yourself as a gentleman? Well?"

Getting sick of the guy's mouth, Harry let an evil smile cross his face before he used one to the techniques he had read about in the Hogwarts books. Instead of parrying the blonde's next strike, Harry ducked under it, bring his blade up to catch the hand guard and twisting. As a result, the blonde's sword was sent flying, and Harry had his blade at the mouthy boy's throat in less than a second. Being a seeker might not have helped in the area of strength, but it did wonders for speed, agility, and hand-eye coordination.

Seeing the flabbergasted expression on the blonde's face, Harry smirked as he pulled his helmet off. It wasn't a reassuring expression.

Keeping his blade directly over the boy's jugular, Harry leaned closer. "Listen here, Bleach Boy, and listen well. I do not like being used. EVER. I will not be used as fodder for the entertainment of the pretty and popular."

Whipping the rapier away from his opponent's throat, Harry stood and walked over to where the instructor was observing them. Seeing Heero standing just beside the man, he cocked his head in question.

Heero remained silent, but the instructor immediately started praising him.

"Very well done, Mr. Jameson! I haven't seen someone pull that move off in several years. How long have you been practicing the arts?" the instructor gushed, grinning widely.

Harry looked uncomfortable as he said, "Actually I've never had any formal lessons. My godfather was a bit of an enthusiast and had a lot of books and some practice things. By the time I was old enough to have lessons, he couldn't give them. I just practiced what I could from the books when I could."

"Ah, I understand," the instructor toned down his excitement as he was reminded of Harry's cover story. "Well, in any case, well done. Well, we had an odd number today, so would you like to spar against Mr. Yuy, here? He's told me he has had several years of instruction. Mr. Worthington, there," the instructor waved off at the blonde Harry had just disarmed, "has only been practicing the arts since the beginning of the year. No challenge what so ever."

Harry turned excited eyes toward the stoic Heero. Seeing Harry eagerness, Heero gave the other boy a slight bow in acceptance. Without another word to the instructor, both boys headed over to the free area where Harry had just defeated his first opponent.

This time both boys followed traditional duelling practices. Helmet back in place, Harry and Heero bowed to each other before bring their foils to the engarde position. For several seconds they held that position, neither wanting to make the first strike, but eventually Harry's impatience won out, and he lunged toward Heero. He wasn't at all surprised when Heero easily stepped out of the way and began his own attack.

For the next several minutes Harry and Heero exchanged blows, both enjoying the thrill of the friendly fight. Unexpectedly, Heero and Harry lunged at exactly the same time, the tips of their foils catching each other, sending Harry's foil flying and breaking Heero's. They ended with Heero in a fully extended lunge, the stub of his foil scraping along the top of the disarmed Harry's mask as he dropped to the ground.

Heero jerked backward, and for the first time, Harry saw a true emotion of the boys face beside suspicion. Shock was written large across the usually blank face. Shock...and fear.

Pulling off his helmet, Harry looked at the gouge along the top. If the foil had not broken, or he had not been able to drop to the ground so fast, Harry could have been killed, blunted weapons or no. Heero had to be very strong to pull this off.

The silence around them suddenly registered, and Harry looked up to see every eye in the arena trained on Harry and Heero. Looking back at his sparring partner, Harry noticed a very fine trembling in the hand still holding the broken fencing foil.

"Well, looks like I need some more practice," Harry quipped lightly. "Hey, Heero, would you mind being my regular sparring partner?"

* * *

Heero stood watching Harry take of his helmet in shock. What was he thinking! He couldn't use his full strength against Harry! He could kill him, and then where would he be?

Heero wouldn't admit it out loud, but he had enjoyed spending the day with Harry yesterday. Granted they had only talked a little after lunch and between classes, but it was better than having to go to classes alone all day.

Heero watched Harry as he looked at the helmet then at the crowd of people watching them. Sadly, Heero realized that this would be the key to keeping Harry out of the war, as much as Heero didn't want it to be. Why would the boy want to be around someone that had almost killed him, even if it had been an accident?

When Harry looked back at him, he steeled himself for what Harry was about to say, trying to wipe the shock from his face with little success.

"Well, looks like I need some more practice. Hey, Heero, would you mind being my regular sparring partner?"

Heero's eyes widened as he took that in. He wasn't scared of him? Meeting Harry's eyes, Heero saw understanding and concern in those emerald eyes. Clearing his throat, Heero nodded, "Accepted." Heero almost sighed in relief when he saw the older boy grin.

"Great," Harry gushed, grabbing Heero's arm and steering him away from all of the people and toward the locker room. "How 'bout we meet after classes and you can show me that last move you used?"

Heero again suppressed the urge to remove the boy's hand from his arm as he chattered on about meeting after classes for sparring practice. Depending on what he found during his trip to the administration building that would be fine, but he might have to put it off for a while. "I'm not sure if that will be possible," Heero said stiffly.

Harry glanced up at him sharply then nodded, still pulling Heero away from the gawking and muttering of their classmates.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

As soon as the door closed behind them, Harry guided Heero over to one of the benches and pushed him down to sit on it. "Are you all right, Heero?" he asked anxiously.

Heero looked up at him as he pulled his helmet off. "Affirmative."

Harry cringed at the monotone voice that his new friend had slipped into. "Heero, it's all right. No harm, no foul. We'll just have to be more careful while sparring."

"Hn," Heero nodded his acceptance slightly, but Harry could tell he was still blaming himself for their near miss.

Shaking his head at the other boy's stubbornness, Harry walked over to his locker, "Well, let's change. After lunch we have science, then horsemanship. I want a fast shower before we eat though," Harry grinned as he grabbed a towel and his shower kit before slipping off to the showers.

Heero watched his friend walk away, noticing his sweat dampened hair and flushed face. Apparently their spar had taken more out of Harry than it had Heero, since the pilot hadn't even broken a sweat during their fight. True Harry had actually gone two rounds, but since Worthington hadn't even lasted two minutes, Heero didn't think the other boy counted for much. Shrugging, Heero quickly and efficiently changed back into his usual class uniform. Gathering his books for his first afternoon class, Heero considered going ahead and going to the cafeteria but instead decided to wait for Harry to finish his shower. For the first time in his life, Heero found himself truly enjoying the company of another human being. Heero knew he wouldn't be here long, probably no more than a few weeks; after that he wouldn't see Harry again for a long time, if ever. He was going to make the most of this assignment.

Less than ten minutes later, Heero heard the water turn off in the next room, and Harry walked back into locker room still using a towel to dry his hair.

"Oh, Heero, you didn't have to wait for me. Thanks!" Harry looked completely shocked, but a little pleased to see Heero was waiting for him.

Heero didn't answer verbally; he just shrugged and leaned back against his locker door to wait for Harry to get dressed.

Harry smiled at Heero as he started pulling out his uniform out of his locker. Well, this was new. Even when he had thought Ron was his best friend and almost-brother, the red-head hadn't bothered to wait for him unless Harry asked him to or Ron wanted to talk to him about something. Even then, the red-head would whine and complain about how long Harry took to shower. Harry had gotten used to just catching up with him.

Harry was so focused on his thoughts he didn't notice when Heero suddenly straightened and walked over to him. As a result he nearly jumped out of his skin when Heero suddenly touched his shoulder.

"Ahh!" Harry yelped as he swiftly spun around, and ducked away from the touch he felt. Seeing that it was only Heero, Harry swallowed hard and asked, "What in the world? Heero?" Looking at the slightly shorter boy, Harry was surprised to see pure rage in the boy's cobalt eyes, though his face was as expressionless as usual.

"Who?" Heero growled.

"What?" Harry asked bewildered.

"Who did that to you?" Heero growled, waving a hand over Harry's shoulder.

Harry looked at his blankly for several moments until he realized two things, almost simultaneously. One, he was still holding his uniform shirt, and two, the towel that he had thrown over his shoulders was on the floor. It had fallen, and he hadn't noticed. Oh, Merlin, Heero had seen his back. Quickly, Harry jerked the shirt on while mumbling, "It's nothing, Heero. Forget it." Turning away, he grabbed his suit jacket.

"Like hell!" Heero hissed, anger flashing across his face for the first time.

Hary sighed as he looked down, a blush colouring his cheeks. "Look, Heero, it doesn't matter."

"Your guardian?" Heero really didn't think so, but he wanted to be sure.

Harry's head shot around so fast Heero was afraid he was going to give himself whiplash. "No! Remus would never hurt me!"

Heero almost flinched at Harry's volume but just raised an eyebrow. "Hn."

Harry sighed, "Look, Remus has only been my guardian since my godfather died a few weeks ago."

Heero's eyebrow rose. _Godfather? _He hadn't found anything about a godfather in his research, but Harry's words rang with truth. "So your godfather did that?"

"No," Harry's voice was just as sharp, though not as loud, in this denial. "Look, it's too complicated to explain here, but I lived with my aunt and her husband for a long time after my parents died. My aunt hated my mother, and it translated over to me. I've left their care, and as far as I am concerned, I am never going back. End of story."

Heero scowled in thought. That matched what he had found, though the dry medical documents were nothing compared to the reality of the scars on the boy's back. But what was this about a godfather? Was that where he disappeared to when he was eleven? Looking closely at Harry's distressed expression, Heero decided to drop it...for now.

"Later then," Heero stated.

Harry nodded his agreement, but sighed in relief. "Well, come on. It's time to eat." Just as Harry and Heero turned to leave the rest of the fencing class started filing into the locker room. Harry was very glad that Heero hadn't pushed it, because while he was pretty sure he could trust Heero with this, he didn't want anyone overhearing them. It was going to be difficult enough telling Heero.

* * *

Lunch was taken in a slightly uncomfortable silence, but by the end of their physical science class, the two were back to the comfortable silence that they had maintain the day before.

Glancing at his schedule, Harry saw that their next class was the horsemanship class. Walking down to the paddock, Harry had to wonder how well he would do in this class. He had ridden a broom for years, of course, and there was the time he rode Buckbeak, and then the thestral earlier in the month, but he had never actually ridden a horse. Hopefully he wouldn't be too bad at it.

Harry just stood to the side while Heero strode over to the instructor to challenge the course. Harry had to smile as the instructor's sceptical look slowly melted into shock as Heero took his white mare through a complicated dressage* routine.

When Heero cantered back over to the instructor, the older man cleared his throat, then smiled and said, "Well, Mr. Yuy, I see that you are definitely skilled enough to handle any of the animals we have here. I'll send an update to your records so you can sign out one of the horses whenever you wish. Feel free to take the next hour to study or work on projects or whatever you wish."

Heero nodded at the man then asked, using his usual flat tone, "I would like to explore the grounds today; would that be acceptable?"

"Certainly," the instructor agreed. Both Harry and the instructor straightened in surprise when Heero suddenly wheeled the horse he was riding toward the gate and kicked the horse into a gallop. Harry smiled when Heero timed the jump over the gate perfectly and took off to 'explore the grounds.'

Harry smirked as he watched the rider on the white horse disappear behind some trees. Heero didn't need Harry to cover for him; he set his own cover in place perfectly.

Harry ended up staying mostly in the background of the class. Thankfully, one of the girls in the class had seen Heero's little show from the girl's locker room window, so Harry didn't have to bring attention to himself by explaining why Heero wasn't there.

During the class Harry found that riding a horse was not too hard since he already knew how to balance himself and grip with his legs, but a normal horse was not nearly as good about anticipating it rider's wishes as a magical creature was. All in all, Harry decided he much preferred a flying mount to an earthbound one.

* * *

*Dressage – "the execution by a trained horse of precision movements in response to barely perceptible signals from its rider" Merriam-Webster Online. I've seen this done live, and it is fascinating. Okay, a little unrealistic since both the horse and the rider have to train for it, but I just had to throw it in. :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

After taking a quick turn around the grounds, Heero made his way to the administration building and found a conveniently open window. Free climbing the side of the building to the third floor presented something of a challenge, but not much. Inside the office, Heero quickly booted up the computer and started his hacking.

After entering the Alliance computer system, Heero started searching for something he could use to get rid of Wing. It was imperative that the Gundam didn't fall into Alliance hands. It had already been three days, and the clock was ticking.

Looking at the specs displayed on the computer, Heero gave a grim little smirk, "This will destroy it for sure. Deep water torpedoes with guidance functions already installed. There are some stored in the Marina Warehouse; that's not far." Nodding in satisfaction, Heero switched over to the school records he need to modify and slipped the master disk Dr. J had given him into the proper drive. "And now for some minor revisions. Heero Yuy, entrance fees unpaid...cleared. Boarding fees unpaid...cleared. Bursary funds...cleared. Financial check on Heero Yuy...no problem." Retrieving his disk, Heero checked the time. He still had fifteen minutes before he need to head back to join his next class. He could afford seven minutes for a little investigation.

Quickly, Heero started seeing if he could find any more information Harry Potter or Evan Jameson while keeping an ear open for anyone coming toward the office he was using. When his self imposed deadline came, Heero was quite frustrated with his lack of progress. As far as Heero could find, Harry had never had a godfather, let alone been in the man's care. A check of the school records didn't give Heero a name for the godfather, but it did list 'Evan's current guardian as one Remus Lupin. It seemed like an odd name to Heero, but who was he to judge. What little Heero was able gather on the man before he had to leave was strange.

His records were just a sporadic as Harry's, but strangely, there was no record of him whatsoever prior to AC180. He had received a late school certificate, though his score on his exams were very high. Though he had no criminal record or legal complaints, his work history showed that he rarely held the same job for more than six months. He had battled financial trouble for many years, still did as a matter of fact, yet he was currently the guardian to a boy that was attending one of the most expensive private schools for several hundred miles.

As he slipped back out the window and back to his horse, Heero tried to piece the new information he had gathered into his knowledge of Harry James Potter, a.k.a. Evan Jameson. According to Jameson's test results, he was seriously behind in mathematics and sciences, yet had extremely high cognitive and analytical abilities. According to the files he had skimmed, his education had been more or less put on hold for the last two years as he cared for his godfather, who had a rare and debilitating form of cancer. When the man had died earlier in the month, 'Evan' and his guardian had chosen to move out here to get away from the memories. Quickly riding back to the stable, Heero caught Harry's eye and nodded to him to let him know he had been successful. Now he just had to figure out how to get to the marina from here. It wasn't too far, about ten miles, but time was at a premium.

* * *

The rest of the school day went fairly smoothly, with Heero helping Harry grasp some of the basics of algebra during study hall. Heero wasn't surprised when Harry caught on quickly. After walking Harry through two problems and explaining the general guidelines around working with equations, Harry was able to work the rest of the problems on his own. The hour went quickly and soon it was time for the non-boarding students to go home.

As they waited for the crowd of girls to show Relena Darlian off in her pink limousine, Harry glanced at Heero. Heero had been strangely reticent since his little excursion during horsemanship. It wasn't as if Heero had ever been particularly forthcoming, but Harry had felt he was getting the other boy to open up a little. Since the fiasco in fencing, and the revelations about Harry's past, Heero had seemed to pull back even the little warmth that Harry had gained from him, and Harry couldn't help but wonder if Heero was reconsidering being his friend.

Biting his lip, Harry considered how to approach the topic with Heero. For all he knew it could be something else entirely but not knowing was driving him crazy. Frankly, knowing so little about Heero in general was driving Harry a little crazy, but he could live with that. Losing the friendship he had started to build with Heero, he couldn't.

"Heero,...I wanted to know if you were still willing to spar with me in the afternoons?" Harry finally asked.

Heero glanced at Harry and realized that Harry looked very uneasy and a little nervous. Frowning slightly, he tried to figure out what might have troubled him. Not coming up with anything, Heero replied, "That would be acceptable, however today I have...things...I must attend to in town." Heero was surprised to see Harry suddenly relax and frowned just a little more.

Harry relaxed as he heard Heero answer. So that's what it was; something must have come up with Heero's mission. "Well, in that case, can we give you a lift into town? We live on the opposite side of the city anyway." Harry asked as Remus pulled up. Seeing that Heero was thinking about it, Harry turned to greet the werewolf.

"Hey, Remus, I want you to meet Heero Yuy. He's the other student that came in with me yesterday," Harry said, politely introducing Remus. "Heero, this is my guardian, Remus Lupin."

Remus smiled pleasantly at the two boys, immediately recognizing the scent that had been in the living room when he had arrived on Sunday. "Good afternoon, Mr. Yuy."

Heero blanked his face as he turned to the newcomer. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lupin."

Smiling at seeing the two getting along, Harry piped up, "Remus, Heero has some things he has to do in town this afternoon. Do you think we could give him a lift into town?"

Remus frown just slightly as he asked, "How would he get back to the school, though?"

Harry frowned. He hadn't thought of that, but Heero said bluntly, "I can always catch a taxi back here after my business is completed. I was contemplating doing just that when Harry offered you assistance getting into town."

Remus looked back and forth between the two boys before nodding his head. "As long as you have a way to get back, I guess that would be fine. Go ahead and climb in, boys."

Harry grinned before quickly slipping into the backseat with Heero directly behind him.

As Remus slipped into the driver's seat, he asked, "So where should we drop you, Heero?"

Heero thought quickly before giving the name of a local sporting store for his destination. It was on the far side of the city close to the highway only about four miles from the marina.

The drive into the city was quite pleasant with Remus asking Harry about his day while Heero watched the interaction between the two. As far as he could tell the affection Lupin was showing for his ward was entirely genuine. Fifteen minutes after leaving St. Gabriel's, Remus pulled up outside the store Heero had mentioned.

"Here we are. Is this the place you needed?" Remus asked.

Glancing out at the store, Heero nodded and started to open the door.

"Heero," Harry called as he slid across the seat to talk to his new friend. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, same time as this morning?"

After a few moments of consideration, Heero simply said, "Probably." If everything went according to plan, yes, they should be able to meet at the same time and place.

Harry grinned and backed up to let Heero close the door.

As Remus drove off, Harry turned to watch Heero out the back window.

After just a couple minutes, Harry couldn't shake the feeling that Heero shouldn't be doing this alone. "Remus, would it be all right if you dropped me at the bookstore? I can get home easily enough later."

Remus frowned in confusion as he glanced in the review mirror. "You sure?"

Harry quickly nodded, "Yeah, there's a couple things I need to take care of."

Nodding, Remus turned down one of the side streets and made his way to the bookstore that Harry had discovered the first day he arrived. It was a little out of the way place with a very welcoming atmosphere. It also served as one of the entrances to the town's magical district.

Harry made his way out of the car, assuring Remus that he would be all right on his own. Grinning, he reminded a now blushing Remus that he had lived here alone for two full days, he should be fine for a couple hours. Harry watched Remus drive off, then took off toward the area where they had left Heero. He knew something was up, and his gut was telling him that Heero was headed into Trouble with a capital 'T.'

* * *

It took almost half an hour, but Harry finally tracked Heero heading out of town toward the marina. Seeing Heero stowaway on a truck, Harry surreptitiously cast a notice-me-not charm on himself and did the same.

After arriving at the marina, Harry followed Heero as he broke into the warehouse and started working on a trio of large missiles. _What is he planning on doing with those?_ Harry wondered. Getting as close as he dared without risking Heero discovering him, Harry got a closer look at the missiles and realized that they were actually torpedoes of some sort. Apparently there was something out in the ocean that Heero wanted to destroy. _But what?_

Listening carefully, Harry could just barely hear Heero muttering to himself that the torpedoes should set off the 'self-destruct' and he would get rid of _it _before the Alliance could get to _it_. Harry had no idea what _it_ was, but apparently Heero wanted it gone.

After Heero finished tinkering with the torpedoes, Harry watched him hotwire a truck and load the torpedoes onto it. Moving as silently as he could, Harry managed to stowaway on the truck and tagged along as Heero took off again, now headed toward the military base. Harry as shocked when he recognized the blond from fencing class riding a motorcycle in the next lane. Harry knew the moment he saw recognition on his face that he had to do something. Thankfully the boy's shock had him stopping on one of the exit ramps, and Harry had just enough time to cast a mild confundus charm at him before he was out or range. Hopefully he wouldn't remember who he saw driving the truck, only that he had recognized the driver.

Another hour found Heero parking his truck just outside the military base and disappearing into it before Harry could try to follow him. Frustrated, Harry decided to stay with the truck since he figured that Heero would have to come back for it.

Twenty minutes later several explosions went off all over the base, and Heero sprinted back to the truck to drive it through the gates that had been blown open with one of the blasts. The next ten minutes were a calliope of confusion as Heero manoeuvre the truck close to one of the loading bays and quickly transferred the torpedoes to one of the ships.

Harry watched with growing confusion, but didn't interfere as Heero worked. Finally Heero had gotten to the deck of the ship and positioned the torpedoes for launch. Harry watched Heero finishing programming something into the ship's computer. Heero's expression was almost pure determination, but Harry was pretty sure he could detect just a hair of sadness in his eyes. Whatever it was that Heero having to destroy, Harry was pretty sure he didn't really want to have to do it. Maybe he shouldn't have been so worried? Heero seemed to be doing just fine. Harry shrugged mentally. It was better that Heero had backup and didn't need it, then for him to not have it when he did need it.

Just as Heero was about to finish the last couple of commands at his terminal, Heero and Harry were shocked when someone vaulted over the bow of the ship and landed on the deck with an automatic pistol ready in his hand.

"Hey, what're you doin'?" the mysterious stranger exclaimed.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_And this is why I always try to follow my instincts,_ Harry told himself as he watched his new friend standing with his hands still hovering over the computer terminal while the black-clad newcomer held him at gun point. Harry was rather surprised when he noticed the three foot long braid of hair hanging down the man's back. Wouldn't that make him very easy to identify? Whatever. This guy was dangerous. As silently as possible, Harry started inching closer to the confrontation. He wasn't sure what he would be able to do, but he had to try to help.

Harry saw Heero dart a glance from the newcomer's weapon to what could be seen of his face under the black cap. Quickly, he tried to finish the command sequence, but a sharp report threw him away from the console.

Harry jerked violently at the loud noise, almost giving away his position. Looking up he saw Heero on the ground several feet away from where he had been standing before, a gunshot wound bleeding sluggishly in his upper right arm. Carefully, Harry slid his wand into his hand as he crept closer. Harry wasn't sure if shield charms would work against bullets, but if that mad man tried again, he was going to try something! He'd figure out how to deal with the statute of secrecy later.

Heero carefully pushed himself back to his knees gritting his teeth against the pain in his arm. Glaring at the man that had shot him, he demanded, "Who are you?"

"Hey, you're the one that's pointing those at my buddy, I should be asking you that," the man, a young one from the sound of his voice, said flippantly while taking a couple of steps closer.

Harry glanced at Heero to see him still glaring at the intruder and slowly dropping his hand behind his back. _What is he doing?_ Harry wondered. He got his answer when Heero suddenly rolled to the side and came up shooting.

For a few moments there was mass confusion as Heero and the mysterious shooter traded shots, then suddenly found themselves without their weapons.

"What the hell?" the black clad young man exclaimed as he gun was forcefully jerked out of his hand and sent flying.

"Wha...!" Heero was just as shocked, though not as vocal when his weapon did exactly the same thing. He was even more surprised when he watched his AWOL gun land in the hands of a suddenly there Harry. Blinking quickly, Heero tried to process what he had just seen. There had been nothing there, then suddenly Harry appeared as if he had just popped in out of thin air. What in the world was going on here!

"You idiot, keep your voice down!" Harry demanded of the newcomer, scowling. "And what in the world do you two think you're going to solve by killing each other? Or are you both just trying to save the Alliance the trouble?"

Heero stared at Harry, or the apparition of Harry, in shock, though he managed to keep his face blank. How did he get here? Had he been wrong all this time and the boy was an Oz spy? No, that wasn't possible. Heero was sure of it. And how had he pulled their guns out of their hands anyway! He was standing at least twelve feet away from Heero and even farther from the stranger.

"Hey, he was the one looking to blow up my buddy, pal!" the stranger defended himself. "I'm just defending what's mine. And how did you do that?"

"Magnets," Harry deadpanned as he looked from Heero to the newcomer. Dumping both weapons over the edge of the submarine, Harry moved over to his silent friend, ripped off his shirt sleeve, and used it to bandage his arm. Harry wasn't sure where the uniform jacket had gone, but he was glad he didn't have to work around it. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Harry looked back at the stranger, "You never answered his question, you know."

The braided man looked at him with a blank expression on his shadowed face, then turned his hands palm up in question. Harry rolled his eyes, then repeated, "Who are you?"

"No can do," the man said shaking his head. "I'm pretty sure you're not cleared for this. The professor was really strict on..." the newcomer's reply was cut off by an alarm sounding. He quickly looked at his watch, and began muttering. Harry and Heero could just barely understand as he groused, "They've already reached the surface. I must have miscalculated the tide."

Harry was confused for just a moment, before there was the sound of something large breaching the water and moving fast. Instinctively Harry tried to get a look at what it was, but the stranger pulled out a flare and lit it, half-blinding Harry and making it impossible to see what was moving in the water.

"Don't look, pal," the stranger warned. "I'm sure you've got your reasons for being here, but you'd better just walk away. Save yourself a lot of grief."

Harry looked at the man in confusion, while keeping a restraining hand on Heero's arm. _Who is this guy?_ Harry wondered. _First he shoots Heero, now he seems to be trying to protect me from something. But what?_

Hearing Heero muttering to himself, Harry listened hard, trying to make out what he was saying.

* * *

Heero wasn't sure what to make of the situation. He had limited time to finish the command sequence before it would delete itself. He could still set them off manually, but between the shock of having this guy show up, then having Harry popping out of thin air, Heero wasn't sure what in the world he should do. He was fairly sure from what he saw before that guy pulled out the flair that he had found Wing and brought it to the surface. If he was working for OZ, Heero had to act fast.

"I can't let OZ get it," he murmured to himself. Tensing just a little in preparation for making a break for the torpedoes, Heero was surprised when Harry's hand suddenly tightened to hold him still.

"Hold on, Heero," Harry murmured quietly, "I think this guy may be on your side."

Heero watched in shock as Harry raised his voice to get the other boy's attention.

* * *

Quickly putting together the little clues he had picked up Harry prayed he had come to the right conclusion as he spoke, "Hey, that wouldn't happen to be something you found at the bottom of the ocean would it?"

Confusion and suspicion warred for top billing on their mystery man's face, "Yeah, I found something. What's it to you?"

"Not me," Harry denied, then pointed to Heero, "Him. Given that he was going to blow whatever it is up before OZ could get a hold of it, I think he has first claim."

The black clad man turned to Heero and cocked his head in curiosity. After a moment he asked, "G, H, J, O, or S?"

Harry looked at him as if he had lost his mind, but Heero calmly replied, "J. You?"

The braided man suddenly relaxed, "G. Damn, sorry about that," with a wave to indicate the gunshot wound on Heero's arm. "Name's Duo, by the way."

"That's great, but how are you planning to get out of here?" Harry asked quickly, noticing that the confusion of Heero's sabotage seemed to be dying down. They need to get out of here quickly.

Duo glanced around, seeing what had the other boy so worried. "I can get one of you out with me, but I don't have room for three in my machine."

"Good," Harry nodded prodding Heero to stand. "Heero, you go with him."

"No, I cannot leave you behind to be punished for my actions," Heero denied, looking angry at the very thought.

Harry grinned, "Heero, you didn't catch me following you from town. You really think they're going to catch me now?"

Heero glared at his black-haired...acquaintance. Heero wasn't really sure he should call the boy his friend, but he did care if he got hurt because of him.

"I'll be fine, Heero." Harry declared. "I'm more concerned that the two of you get out of here. Now, go on. Duo," Harry turned to the long haired man with a serious expression. "I'm trusting you to get him out of here, if you betray him, you don't want to know what I will do to you." The last part was practically growled, thinking of his own betrayal by those he should have been able to trust, and Harry was satisfied to see Duo swallow hard. Though Harry hadn't realized it, as he had turned to Duo, the anger he had been feeling caused his eyes to start glowing with an eerie green light that was very obvious in the darkness.

Nodding his agreement, though still glaring at the braided man in suspicion, Heero walked over to where the dark-clad pilot was standing. Turning back to Harry, Heero said, "I should be back to the Institute within a couple days. You will explain all this then."

Harry smiled slightly as he watched the two disappear over the edge of the boat to swim out to meet the approaching machines. Even Harry, who wasn't very knowledge about modern military technology could tell that these were something special. After watching the two disappear under the water heading west, Harry pulled out his locket and made his way home, wondering how in the world his life always ended up being so complicated.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

_Meanwhile in England..._

Things were not good.

In fact, they were very bad.

And getting worse fast.

After the fiasco in the Department of Mysteries, Cornelius Fudge had been on increasingly shaky ground in his efforts to maintain his position as the Minister of Magic. After spending a year assuring everyone that there was no way that the Dark Lord had come back or could come back, the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord had broken into the most secure part of the Ministry, killed two Aurors and several civilians, and again nearly killed Harry Potter, the very person that had been preaching for all to hear that the Dark Lord had returned during that same time. Only the fact that Harry had survived and the Aurors had managed to capture over half of the invasion force kept Fudge from being immediately thrown out of office. The news that the dangerous escaped murderer and traitor Sirius Black had also been killed in the fight didn't hurt his image either.

The Wizarding public was shocked again when it was leaked a week and a half later that two of the captured Death Eaters had been identified as Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew. Suddenly the death of Sirius Black started to look like a cover up, and the public started muttering in suspicion over the previously close relationship between Fudge and Malfoy. Before Fudge could even attempt to hush up the scandal, the Unspeakables obtained permission from the Wizengamot to use Veritaserum on all suspected Death Eaters. Half an hour after that, a special edition of the Daily Prophet hit the stands with the headline, "_Malfoy Revealed as Loyal Death Eater!_"

The public's vague mumbling of discontent quickly increased to screams for Fudge to be removed from office. In a last desperate attempt to save his job, Fudge decided to try to get Harry Potter, once more a hero of the Wizarding World, to support him. There had been rumblings for years that the boy had not been entirely happy with living with his muggle relatives. As Minister of Magic, it was within Fudge's power to have the boy emancipated before he was sixteen, and once emancipated, the boy would be allowed to live anywhere he wished. Yes, if Fudge allowed Harry an early emancipation, he would of course be properly grateful and supportive.

Finally two weeks after the attack, and six days after the students had been sent home, Fudge travelled to Hogwarts with signed, official, and _finalized_ emancipation papers in hand to demand the address of Potter's relatives from Headmaster Dumbledore.

* * *

Headmaster Dumbledore was sitting in his office enjoying the quiet after the students left. While the students had their uses and he wouldn't be able to guide the Wizarding World as well from any other position in the country, he did get rather tired of the constant noise and bother. Sighing in satisfaction, Dumbledore popped another lemon drop in his mouth and leaned back in his chair, thinking about his plans and considering what adjustments needed to be made.

Things were coming together very well. He had hoped to have the boy more firmly entranced with Miss Weasley, but that would be easy to correct come the beginning of next term. He might be powerful and have a very strong will, as evidence by his ability to resist the Imperius curse, but Amortentia would wear down anyone exposed to it enough. They would just have to increase the doses. By Christmas, the boy would be ready to propose. A New Year's wedding and the chit would be pregnant by Valentine's Day. True, Ginny would only be fifteen, but as long as her parent's consented to the marriage, there would be no trouble. And everyone knew that if Molly agreed, Arthur would go along with it. All Albus really needed to do this summer was convince Severus to continue the boys third tier lessons.

Albus scowled just slightly, it would be difficult perhaps, but he was sure that he would be able to guilt the dark-haired Potions Master into it, if nothing else. Severus was a very stubborn man, but he still held to a very old-fashioned sense of honour, which Albus had found to be very useful when manoeuvring him where Dumbledore needed him to be. Another six months of 'lessons' should be more than enough to ensure that the connection between the boy and the Dark Lord was fully open. After that a well orchestrated accident could be arranged, if the Dark Lord didn't oblige with a timely attack, and their worries would be over. The only thing Dumbledore needed to do would be make sure that it was all ended before the boy's birthday. It was imperative that his plans came to fruition before the boy was of age in order to maintain control of the Potter fortune.

As soon as the boy was of age, he would take control of the entire Potter family fortune, and now with Sirius death, the Black fortune too, unless Dumbledore was very mistaken. He seemed to remember that Black had re-written his will just after he had been named the boy's Godfather and had made him heir to the Black line. With the two combined, the boy would easily be the wealthiest person in Wizarding Britain, if not all of the Wizarding World. With the two inheritances also came three seats in the Wizengamot, a small handful of noble titles, and enough political power to make Lucius Malfoy look like a minor player. He had already begun showing worrying tendencies toward independent thought and rebellion. No, it would be better to eliminate the potential problem before it had a chance to even begin to take root.

There was also the fact that as soon as the boy attained his majority, he would be given immediate and complete control of everything, including his parents' vaults and will. Dumbledore shuddered to think what the boy might do if he were to ever read that will. At the very least, even if he were to delay investigating his parents' vaults and didn't find the will, the boy would be required to make out his own will, and Dumbledore was fairly certain that he would not be named as executor of the will. Despite Dumbledore's best efforts, the relationship between the boy and the werewolf had grown too close for anyone else to be named. The only reason he had been able to hush up the exact contents of the elder Potter's will was because, as executor, the will had been left in his care before they went into hiding.

He had hoped to be the executor of Sirius' will, but Black had made some excuse about the family tradition of using the Gringott's Goblins as executors. Dumbledore had tried to subtly pressure the ex-convict, saying that some of the less savoury members of the family might pressure the goblins, but Black just laughed it off saying that the magical contract between the Black family and Gringotts would prevent anyone from even trying. Apparently a question over the succession of the family titles in the 1600s had been a catalyst for a magically binding contract with Gringotts to execute all wills for the Most Ancient and Honourable House of Black without interference from other members of the family. If broken, the contract would strip the offending member of the family of the position, money, and magic. Only one person in the last several hundred years had tried to pressure the goblins, and the contract had made a very public and painful example of the offender.

Even so, the only part Dumbledore was overly concerned with was that Black didn't try to get the boy emancipated since that would bring into play the same complications as the boy reaching the age of seventeen, and according to his sources at the ministry, the Minister had rejected the petition for the boy's emancipation out of hand. Aside from that, he expect that Black had probable left a sum of money to Lupin, but there were few others that Black would care enough about to include in his will. Perhaps Andromeda or Nymphadora, but no one else that Dumbledore could think of.

Yes, things were coming together nicely. As long as things progressed according to schedule, there would be no problems at all. Sighing Dumbledore cast a baleful eye at the stacks of paperwork on his desk. Now if he could just come up with a plan to delegate all of this paperwork to someone else, that didn't end up with it right back on his desk with more, life would be perfect.

Dumbledore had only managed to cut the top half inch off the stack when the wards informed him that the Minister of Magic had arrived at the gargoyle guardian and was demanding to talk to the Headmaster. Scowling momentarily, Dumbledore wondered what in the world that fool wanted now, before smoothing his face back into his cheerful wise old man expression and had the guardian move for the current (though, hopefully not for long) Minister.

Just as the minster made it to the top of the stairs, Dumbledore commanded the door to open and allow the minister and his bodyguards to enter.

"Ah, Cornelius, what a pleasant surprise! Would you care for a lemon drop?" Dumbledore exclaimed, twinkle firmly in place as he offered the crystal dish of candy to his guest.

"I have no time for idle chit-chat, Headmaster," Fudge sneered at the offer. "I need Harry Potter's home address immediately."

Dumbledore blinked in surprise. What in the world could Fudge want with the boy's address?

"Whatever for, Cornelius? It was decided long ago that for Harry's safety that his address would remain a secret of the highest rank. It is strictly on a need to know basis."

Puffing himself up pompously, Fudge smirked, "That is none of your business at the moment. All you need to know is that I have business with Mr. Potter." The old man wasn't going to steal his thunder on this one. Fudge knew he had to have been behind the petition to emancipate Potter that crossed his desk last year, and he wasn't going to have him claim that this was his idea. He had contacted the press, and they would be waiting for him and Potter at the ministry when they returned.

Dumbledore schooled his face into regretful seriousness, even though internally he was fuming at having been denied by this little toad of a man. Perhaps he had made an error of judgement when he had allowed the man to be elected as Minister of Magic. Even after the fiasco of this last year, Fudge continued to defy him. "I'm sorry, Cornelius, but as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, I cannot condone handing the information out on only that basis. When you are ready to give me a legitimate reason, I will consider it further. Until then, I must bid you good day. As you can see, I have much to do in to prepare for next year." Dumbledore purposefully pulled the top report from the stack and started reading, seemingly ignoring the other men standing in his office.

Fudge seethed as he watched the headmaster return to his paperwork, completely unconcerned with whether his decision was accepted or not. Unfortunately, while the Chief Warlock would not usually deny a Minister's request like this, he did have the power to if, in his opinion, is was not in the best interests of those involved. And there was nothing Fudge could do about it. Without another word, Fudge spun on his heel and stormed out of the office.

When the door closed behind the minister and his bodyguards, Dumbledore looked up and frowned. What in the world was that all about? After a couple of minutes of consideration, Dumbledore shrugged and went back to his paperwork. He would find out eventually, but he doubted it was anything particularly important. And if it was, Fudge would be back. It wasn't as if there was anyone else in the Wizarding World that Fudge could go to that knew the boy's address.

* * *

Fudge stormed out of the school and across the lawn toward the gates and the apparition point. How dare that old has been deny him Potter's address! Now he would have to return to the Ministry and the press would be waiting, but he would have no story to give them and no Boy-Who-Lived to bolster his standing. Just the thought of the humiliation was threatening to give him a migraine.

One of the two Aurors, one Richard Hampton by name, that had accompanied the minister glanced sideways at the short, round man. He knew his career had not been going anywhere for two reasons, 1) he was no good at sucking up to people, and, just to make matters worse, 2) he was Muggleborn. While there was no official policy that suppressed Muggleborns, it was also a well known fact that for a Muggleborn to excel at any position in the ministry, they had to be either **_extremely_** talented in their chosen field or a world class toady. With that said, Richard did have one advantage in the current situation that just might give his career a little boost. He knew the Muggle World. Besides, from what he knew of the Minister's plans, he thought it was high time someone did something for young Harry Potter.

Clearing his throat slightly, Auror Hampton decided to try. "Minister, I might know of a way to get that address."

Fudge whipped around to stare at his escort so fast he nearly fell over. "What!"

Nodding respectfully, he continued, "Sir, muggles keep public records of the addresses of most of their residents. I could check to see if Mister Potter's relatives are in the lists."

Fudge narrowed his eyes, Could it really be that easy? "How long would it take?"

Hampton thought for a moment, "As long as they are in the standard lists, maybe half an hour."

Fudge's eyes lit up with a mixture of hope and desperation. "We will apparate to Diagon Alley. Auror Williams and I will wait for you at the Leaky Caldron while you get the address."

After the three of them completed the jump to London and secured a meeting room at the pub for the Minister, Hampton slipped out into Muggle London to check. Just like he thought, 'Dursley, Vernon' was listed plain as day in the telephone directory. A thirty pence check with information yielded the Dursley's full address. Hampton shook his head in exasperation as he walked back to the Leaky Caldron, information in hand.

So much for security. One sickle converted to Muggle currency and five minutes on a public telephone and anyone could have the boy's address. Even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself!


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

After Auror Hampton returned to the Leaky Caldron, it only took another thirty minutes for them to arrive at 4 Privet Drive after transfiguring their robes into muggle clothing in order to blend in better. Hampton mentally shook his head at the garments that his companions had made. They might not be robes, but there would be plenty of stares sent their way for the outrageous styles they had adopted for the afternoon.

Coming to the correct house, Fudge stepped forward and knocked on the door, eager anticipation covering his face.

After a few moments, there was a strange thumping noise coming toward the door. The door was finally opened by what had to be the fattest teenager Hampton had ever seen. The boy was fairly tall, maybe five foot ten, with wheat blond hair and small, piggy blue eyes. Before they could attempt to ask to see Harry Potter, the boy turned back into the house and shouted, "Dad! It's some of those freaks!" Immediately there was more thumping coming toward the door.

Hampton couldn't help but scowl at the boy's words. Where in the world did he get off calling them freaks? Before his mental rant got any farther, a large man, presumably the boy's father, arrived at the door, and it became blatantly obvious where the boy got his looks and build from.

"What the hell are you freaks doing coming to my house?" the huge man demanded, pushing the boy behind him, however instead of leaving, the boy hung around a look of anticipation on his face.

Glancing at the still sputtering Minister, and noticing that his partner didn't seem to be interested in talking at the moment, Auror Hampton stepped forward slightly and said, "Mr. Dursley, we would like to speak with your nephew, Harry Potter, for a few minutes. Our business won't take long, I assure you, sir."

Vernon snorted, "I'm sure it won't. The little freak isn't here. He left the day he got back from that freaky school of yours. I don't know where he went, and I don't care. So leave us ALONE!" With those words, he slammed the door in the Minister's stunned face.

* * *

The next day the headline on the front page of the Daily Prophet would read: "Boy-Who-Lived Runs from Muggle Relatives, Current Location Unknown!"

On the fifth page, amid speculation on what had driven the boy to run, was another article of interest: "Newly Former-Minister Fudge Called Before Wizengamot."

* * *

_Meanwhile, at the same time that Fudge left to go see Dumbledore at Hogwarts..._

Sharphook, account manager for the Potter Family Estate, looked up in annoyance at the knock at his office door. "What?" he demand gruffly.

The door opened to reveal a maniacally grinning Griphook.

Most humans would feel very uneasy when in the presence of a smiling goblin. History tells the story of goblins smiling as they rush into battle. Paintings of the many goblin rebellions show the sharp teeth and sadistic smirks that decorated the goblin warriors. It was a sign that things were not going to go well for wizards.

So when Sharphook saw the expression on his son's face, he knew something was up. "Griphook?" he demanded imperiously.

"This just arrived by ministry owl," Griphook said, as he handed a folded parchment to the older goblin.

Sharphook took the parchment without acknowledging the younger being. To most wizards, the goblins seemed rude and uncultured, but when you got done to it, it was just their way. They did not believe in wasting time or energy on useless frivolities such as courtesy or pleasantries.

Opening the parchment, Sharphook quickly read its content, and a grin grew on his face to match his son's. After finishing he looked up and caught the satisfaction on his son's face. "Contact the Tokyo branch and have them start proceedings immediately."

Griphook simply nodded as he turned and left the office to follow his father's orders.

Sharphook stopped to consider all the changes that were about to be made in the Wizarding world. Unknown to most of the Wizarding world, the Potter family was wealthy. They didn't flaunt it most of the time, but they were probably in the top five percent of the population in terms of annual income. For the last decade and a half, that income had lain stagnant, piling up in the main family vault because no one was available that had the authority to make new investments in the Potter name. As account manager, Sharphook had the authority to buy and sell the investments that were already started, and had actually bought out every company that the Potter's had had any investments in over the years, but he could not invest in new companies and markets, to his eternal frustration.

Only Sirius Black had been given that privilege, but since he had been in Azkaban, he had been unavailable. Since his escape three years ago, he had only managed to contact the back a few times, but he had never mentioned the huge fortune piling up and stagnating in his godson's vault.

Sharphook huffed at the waste the amassed fortune represented, but he could understand that the man had other things on his mind. Now, though, according to the parchment he had been given, Harry Potter had been emancipated! Now the breaks would be off, as long as the Potter Heir was reasonable. Griphook had mentioned his brief meeting with the young boy when he visited Gringotts before his first years, and Sharphook had hope that the boy would not be one of those spoiled brats that came to the bank thinking that the world should be given to them on a golden platter.

Taking just a few minutes to fantasize about the new investments he would be able to oversee (which he would deny doing to his dying day), Sharphook suddenly remembered something. Sirius Black's will had activated a couple of weeks ago, and Ironclank, the Black Family Account Manager, had been complaining that Harry Potter, the Black family magical heir, was a minor. Sharphook had commiserated at the time, since he had been dealing with the same situation for years. Grinning, Sharphook rose from the desk and went in search of his friend.

Those members of the Wizarding public that saw the widely grinning goblin striding determinedly across the lobby nervously shifted out of his way, all wondering if there was another rebellion coming.

* * *

There were many other people across the face of the Wizarding World whose lives had just changed, but most would not know it for days, weeks, or, for some, even months into the future.

Ron and Hermione were both too busy with their own lives to spare a thought about that was happening to their supposed best friend. While Ron was lounging around the house, daydreaming about what he would do with the money Dumbledore had promised him for keeping track of that brat Potter, Hermione was travelling with her parents, fully trusting that the information that Dumbledore had asked her for was being used for Harry's good. After all, they both justified to themselves, Dumbledore was the greatest wizard of the age. Of course, he would do what was right.

Severus Snape was currently enjoying his student-free condition and starting some experiments that had been too dangerous to try while there were children around that might stumble into the lab. It was wonderful to be able to spread out for a long session of brewing without having to layer half a dozen locking and privacy wards on the door to make sure some overly curious little dunderhead didn't wander in and get themselves hurt or, worse yet, ruin the experiment!

The Weasley Twins were working in their own laboratory on different ideas that they had come up with, both prank and war related. In their spare time, the twins were worried about their young friend. They had sent several letters to Harry in spite of Dumbledore's wishes, but they had all returned unopened. What was going on? They finally decided that if the next letter returned in the same condition, they were going to check on their surrogate little brother personally, and to hell with anyone that didn't like it! The next morning they would find out why he wasn't answering.

Auror Nymphadora Tonks, to be called just Tonks if you didn't want to be hexed, sighed wearily as she tossed her uniform jacket over the back of a chair. She allowed her appearance to melt back into something more comfortable as she considered her job. She had been in deep cover now for over two years and she was tired of it. To make matters worse, she was getting too involved. The job had been so simple at first, a straight forward infiltrate and observe, but noooo, she couldn't just get by, oh no, she had to be GOOD at it. So good, in fact, that now they had her training others, when she was only a year out of the academy herself. What was she supposed to do now, she wondered. Her cousin Sirius had been killed a couple weeks ago, and she couldn't even get home to comfort her mother. Neither she nor her mother had ever believed that Sirius had done what he had been accused of. It was one of the reasons she had joined the Aurors in the first place, but now it was too late. At least the little rat had been caught too, and his name could be cleared now. Closing her eyes, Tonks sighed again. One day, she was going to get even with Moody for signing her up to be a plant within the Muggle Specials.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Heero sat atop Wing's torso, frowning at the diagnostic read out on his laptop. The damage to the suit wasn't too bad, but he still needed parts that he didn't have, and he hated having to depend on others for his mission.

"Hey, new guy," Duo shouted up at him. Heero glanced at him, but didn't say a word before turning back to his computer, typing more commands into the program. "Hey, come on say something. Why don't you let me help with your suit repairs? Between the two of us, we could have your suit in top shape in no time."

Heero stopped his typing to give the braided pilot, Duo Maxwell if he remembered correctly, a long look with a contemplative frown on his face. It was somewhat reassuring that he was not going to have to carry out his mission entirely alone, but he was still leery of allowing this kid, a virtual unknown, to work on Wing. "No," Heero stated abruptly, turning back to his diagnostic.

"Ah, come on," Duo cajoled as he climbed up on the suit's abdomen. "I know you gotta need some parts. I know this baby's self-detonate got fried, and it looks like you got banged around a bit before you hit the water. And besides that, I feel kind of bad for putting that hole in your arm."

Heero frowned harder, thinking. The bullet wound to his arm wasn't bothering him, indeed, thanks to Dr. J's tapering, it was more than half healed already, but Maxwell was right about parts. He needed parts, and while he hated having to admit it, he was going to need this kids help to get them. Still he didn't trust him to work on Wing. Shaking his head, he said tersely, "I don't want anyone touching my mobile suit, that's all. But..." Heero trailed off for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of this decision. He had been trained to work alone, to operate without any outside support or help. Yet for the last few days he had...enjoyed having someone to back him up. Even if Potter wasn't trained in the fight and survival skills that Dr. J had driven into him for the last six years, he had done as much as he could to help Heero without expecting anything in return. Seeing the hopeful expression on the other Gundam pilot's face, Heero continued, "it would be acceptable if you would bring me the parts as they are needed."

Duo grinned, "Sure, man. I can understand you not wanting just anyone wrenching on your machine. So what d'ya need?"

Heero frowned slightly. Was it really that easy? Mentally shrugging his shoulders at the other boys enthusiasm, Heero quickly transfered the list of replacement parts the diagnostic said he needed to a handheld unit and handed it over. Duo grabbed it and gave the list a fast once over.

"Hey, I'm pretty sure we've got everything you need, so what do you want first?" Duo grinned up at the stoic teen.

Heero set the laptop to the side and grabbed his tool belt as he moved toward the belly of his suit. "My first priority is the self-detonate, then the left aerodynamics drive system."

"Gotcha, so that means first you'll need..." Duo trailed off as he hopped down from his perch and took off toward the stern of the salvage vessel.

Heero gaze followed the energetic L2 pilot for a few moments. This guy had more energy that anyone Heero had ever met before, including his new...acquaintance. It would be interesting to work with him and test out his skills. Hopefully he wouldn't be too annoying, but Heero had a sneaking suspicion that even if he wasn't allowing Maxwell to actually work on Wing, the other pilot was intending to keep Heero company while he did.

* * *

Harry arrived back at his house to find a worried Remus pacing in front of the fireplace.

"Where have you been! Are you all right?" Remus immediately demanded, quickly coming to Harry's side and starting to check him over.

"I'm fine, Remus. I ran into a couple problems, but nothing bad..." Harry cut off as Remus started growling softly, looking at Harry's hands. Hands that still had Heero's blood on them! Oh, Merlin!

Harry quickly pulled away, eyeing Remus warily. "It's nothing, Remus, really. The bloods not mine. I'm fine."

Remus quickly backed off when he caught the sharp sour smell of fear coming from his cub. The last thing in the world he wanted to do was scare the boy. Harry had been through enough, and Remus was not about to add to it. "I smell gunpowder, too, Harry. What happened?"

Harry's gaze darted around the living room as he tried to come up with an answer that would satisfy Remus and not get him banned from seeing his new friend again be his overprotective guardian.

Remus watched Harry struggle with his answer for a minute before adding, "I got an interesting call from St. Gabriel's as well. Something about an accident in fencing class?"

Harry swallowed hard.

Remus sighed, waving Harry to take a seat on the sofa while he sat in an armchair in front of him. "I know all this has to do with your friend Heero. Harry, you have to tell me what is going on."

"I can't, Remus," Harry said earnestly. "I can't betray him like that, you know that!"

Remus sighed again, but nodded his understanding. Sometimes Remus wondered why Harry hadn't ended up in Hufflepuff, for his loyalty, once given, was forever. He would literally die before ever betraying anyone he considered friend or family. And apparently young Heero had been added to that short list.

"All right, I won't push for a full explanation, but can't you tell me something?" Remus asked.

Harry bit his lip and considered his words carefully, "Heero's got some people after him too. He has something they want, and this afternoon he was trying to make sure that they didn't get it. There was a bit of a misunderstanding, and a couple shots were fired. We got it sorted out and the item had been taken to a safe place for now, but I ended up bandaging a flesh wound on his arm. That's where this came from," Harry said, motioning to the blood spots on his hands.

Remus thought for a moment, before asking, "Is he in trouble with the law?

Looking down, Harry whispered, "Yes."

Remus nodding his understanding, but didn't say anything. Technically speaking, because Harry was a minor and Remus was not his legal guardian, he was guilty of kidnapping himself. Or at least adding and abetting a runaway. "And fencing class?" Remus inquired.

Harry smiled for the first time since he arrived home, "That was just an accident, a bit of a miscalculation on both our parts. We were sparring and lunged at each other at the same time. I lost my grip on my blade, while Heero's foil snapped off. It got a little hairy, because Heero couldn't pull his strike, but the only casualty was my helmet really. He and I are planning on sparring a little in the afternoons, whenever he can get the time."

* * *

After fifteen minutes of mindless chatter while watching Heero silently work on the repairs to Wing, Duo nonchalantly asked, "So who was that guy with you on the sub?"

Heero stopped his work for a moment and glanced over at the braided teenager. Turning his eyes back to the wires he was connecting, Heero said, voice monotonous, "He is an ... acquaintance of mine. He was instrumental in my arrival in the city and has assisted me in maintaining my cover here. Currently, he goes by Evan Jameson." Heero decided to give the other pilot a minimum of information and let him draw his own conclusions from there.

"Currently? So what's his real name?" Duo asked, wondering at the oddly stilted way Heero was speaking of his friend.

"Negative," Heero stated, shaking his head. "Revealing his real name might compromise his position." Heero glanced around quickly at the men around them, then back at the other teenager, willing him to catch on.

Duo was about to protest when he caught Heero's glance at the other men working on the deck. Ah, so it wasn't him that the guy mistrusted, but the possibility of being overheard. Duo could live with that. "So what about you? I think he called you Heero, didn't he?"

Heero didn't stop this time as he replied, "I was assigned Heero Yuy as a code name for this operation."

"The pacifist leader of the colonies a couple decades back? J sure has a sense of irony. And your real name, or should stay under wraps too?" Duo mused. He was surprised when the short-haired pilot paused and looked vaguely uncomfortable for a moment.

"It would be best not to speak of it," Heero said after a few moments.

Duo looked at him searchingly for a couple of minutes before he shrugged. "Well, like I said, I'm Duo Maxwell. I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie. That's me in a nutshell."

Heero stopped and look at the other teenager with a frown, "You are using your real name?" If there were any records on the other boy, this could compromise the operations security. What was Professor G thinking sending the boy out under his own name!

Duo looked embarrassed for a moment, but finally admitted, "I don't really know what my real name is. Duo was the name the leader of the gang gave me when I was a kid running the streets on L2. I adopted the name Maxwell to honour the only man that ever even tried to give me a family. They aren't any records under that name, if you're worried about that. I was just one more street rat orphan to the alliance authorities on L2."

Duo was unnerved to find Heero still staring at him, a blank, yet somehow sad, expression on his face. After three minutes of silence, Duo nervously asked, "What?" Growing defensive, Duo glared at the other teenager and growled, "I may be a nameless orphan, but I'm a damn good pilot and mechanic."

Heero shook his head as he let his arms drop to his sides. "I would be a hypocrite if that were bothering me. I was just realizing that it would seem that neither of us has left anything behind to go back to. I was wondering what are the odds that we were both chosen for the fact that no one will miss us if this mission fails." Shaking off the rather disturbing thoughts that had entered his mind, Heero went back to working on Wing.

Five minutes later, Heero suddenly realized that Duo had yet to speak. Looking over, he found Duo looking thoughtful. Frowning slightly, Heero considered the other boy. Duo had been acting like a cheerful jokester since Heero had climbed into the cockpit of the other boy's Gundam earier. Now, though, that cheerfulness had been set aside, and Heero had to wonder if Duo wore a jokester mask the same way he wore his soldier mask.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

By 9:00 that night, Harry had finished all of his homework, and he and Remus were busily working on his meditation. Remus might not be an true occlumens, but anyone could learn to meditate. Both Harry and Remus hoped that it would help mend the damage that Snape's lessons had caused the year before. So far Harry had found visualization to be the best method he had tried.

So it was rather startling for both of them when an owl suddenly started pecking at the window demanding entrance.

Remus looked at his young protégé and shrugged as he opened the window and allowed the bird to enter the house. The only ones that knew where they lived were the goblins, but what could they want at this time of day? Seeing the Gringotts crested pressed into the wax seal, Remus relieved the owl of his burden, but the barn owl simply moved to a convenient chair to await their reply. Remus eyebrows rose when he turned the envelope over to find it addressed to 'Lord Potter-Black.' "It's for you, Cub," Remus said quietly as he handed over the letter.

"Me?" Harry looked shocked as he took and opened the message.

_Lord Harrison Potter-Black,_

_In accordance with the guidelines of the Inheritance Act of 1428, Gringotts requests you presence at your local Gringotts Main Branch tomorrow morning. Since you are now an emancipated minor, it is necessary that you be given all accompanying rights, responsibilities, monies, and properties as have been held in trust for you since the deaths of your father Lord James Potter and Godfather Lord Sirius Black. _

_We await your reply,  
__Handrock  
__Regional Manager,  
__Gringotts,  
__Tokyo_

"Remus?" Harry whispered, staring at the parchment in his hand.

Seeing the confusion and shock on his godson's face, Remus immediately took the letter and read it. Remus eyes widened, "But Sirius said he denied it?"

"What?"

Shaking himself out of his own shock, Remus explained, "Sirius was trying to get you declared an emancipated minor last year, but Fudge refused. Apparently, he changed his mind and signed off on it. As an emancipated minor, you can live where you want, access your family vault, use magic as an adult. You also have two seats... no, three I think actually...in the Wizengamot. You'll have a lot more freedom now." Remus grinned down at the overwhelmed boy at his side.

"So this is a good thing?" Harry asked, still very confused.

"Definitely. Now Dumbledore doesn't have a legal leg to stand on if he tries to take you back to England. Not that I think that would stop him, but it would make his work a bit harder. We'll need to send them a letter telling them when we will arrive tomorrow morning," Remus said as he quickly wrote a short note telling Handrock to expect them at 8:00 the next morning.

After sending Harry off for his evening shower, Remus sat down to contemplate the unexpected, then certainly not unpleasant, turn of events. As an adult, Harry would be able to practice his magic in England as freely as he could here, but there was still the issue of Dumbledore. If the old man was willing to murder Harry in order to get rid of Voldemort, Remus doubt a little thing like Harry being a legal adult would stop his plans now. If Harry was to have any chance of survival, he had to stay away from England.

The next morning, Remus placed a quick call to the school, telling the secretary that something had come up, and Evan would not be attending classes that day. When asked why, he told the lady that there were some legal matters concerning the death of Evan's godfather that had come up. Murmuring understandingly, she assured him that it would not be a problem. She also offered to let Harry come by the office to pick up his assignments that evening, or he could pick them up before classes the next day.

Turning to the nervous teenager waiting beside him, Remus said, "It arranged. We can go in and get your assignments this afternoon, or you can pick them up tomorrow."

Harry nodded, and when Remus just looked at him with a questioning expression, Harry said, "Let's see how this goes, huh?"

Remus smiled as he held out the quill he had turned into a portkey for their trip to Tokyo.

Upon arriving at Gringotts, Tokyo, Harry renewed his vow to learn to apparate as soon as possible, speaking of which... "Remus, if I'm emancipated, does that mean I can learn to apparate now?"

Remus smiled as the two walked into the large stone building. "Of course. We can start you're lessons this evening if you want."

"YES!" Harry cheered, then blushed as Remus just smiled indulgently at him. Seeing the amused looks on the faces on some of the other bank patrons, Harry felt like slipping through the floor, he was so embarrassed.

Remus just chuckled softly as he strode up to a free teller and presented the letter Harry had received the night before. "We have an appointment to see Handrock at 8:00."

The goblin snatched up the letter, but his scowl smoothed out as he read the missive. The smile that spread over his face made both Remus and Harry shift in apprehension. They knew that the goblins would not have been involved in any kind of plot to trap them, but that smile still made them a little uncomfortable.

"This way," the short goblin said gruffly, leading both men to an ornate door hidden behind several trees that were magically growing in the back right corner of the lobby.

Knocking on the door, the goblin waited until he heard a bark of "Enter!" before pushing the portal open and announcing, "Lord Potter-Black, sir," and backing out after Harry and Remus entered the office.

Both humans were rather surprised at the office they entered. For the most part, goblin architecture was utilitarian, but this office was...well opulent was the first word that came to Harry's mind. The chairs were made of cherry wood and upholstered in deep blue velvet. The walls were decorated with weapons, true, but like the Sword of Gryffindor, these weapons were also beautiful works of art in their own right. Looking around for a few moments, Harry could help but be impresses. Jerking his attention away from his contemplation of the room, Harry looked toward their host, only to find the goblin smiling at him, much like the teller had earlier.

Handrock smiled widely at the two humans that entered his office. As they looked around, he could see the appreciation for the weapons in the eyes of the younger man. Seeing their attention turn to him, he said, "Lord Potter-Black, we've looked forward to this for a long time."

* * *

Heero and Duo worked long into the night to get Wing up and running in top form. Duo had been all for stopping and finishing up in the morning, but Heero had stubbornly insisted that he would continue working all night alone if he had to. When faced with the chocolate-haired boy's insistence, Duo stuck around until the job was done at nearly 3:00 in the morning.

Considering that, it wasn't surprising when Duo slept in the next morning. When he stumbled out of his bunk at 8:00 the next morning, he was surprised to see Heero getting ready to leave.

"Hey, were you going?"

Heero glanced back at the other pilot as he grabbed the zip line and prepared to ride it up. "My current mission is at St. Gabriel's Institute. I must return to maintain mission integrity. I'm already late as it is."

Duo frowned a little, but nodded his understanding. Man, was he glad G hadn't stuffed him in one of those places. Full of snooty rich kids and jocks. Yuck! "What are you gonna do with yer machine? Ya' can't exactly leave it in the parking garage."

Heero raised an eyebrow at the idea, but replied, "The school backs against a densely forested area." That should satisfy him. Ducking his head, Heero slipped into the cockpit.

"All right," Duo said as Heero disappeared from view. As the cockpit door closed he added, "I'll be seeing you 'round, so be careful, will you? And take care of that arm! There aren't many of us as it is."

Heero was surprised when his forward monitor showed the long-haired boy still looking up at Wing with an expression of concern on his face. Flipping on the exterior speakers, Heero tried to reassure the other pilot, "I'm always careful, and my arm is already healed." He saw the sceptical look on Duo's face, but he didn't worry about it. Instead he carefully manoeuvred Wing onto the deck of the ship and initiated the shift into aerial mode. Checking to see that no one was close enough to be injured in the launch sequence, Heero noticed that Duo was still standing in the doorway of the hanger area. Wrestling with his fledgling conscience, something he hadn't had to do in years, Heero turned the exterior speakers back on, "You have my thanks, Deathscythe." Heero allowed himself a small smirk at the dumbfounded expression on Duo's face and watched carefully as Duo mouthed, "You're welcome, Wing!"

The actual flight to the forest behind the school was very short, but getting Wing hidden took a while. Finally getting back onto the grounds at 10:00, Heero slipped into his dorm room. Thankfully the first thing Heero did was change into his uniform because ten minutes later, one of the sisters appeared at his door looking worried.

"Mr. Yuy, are you not feeling well?" she asked solicitous.

"I'm well, Sister Maggie," he said coolly, trying to think of something to tell her to explain his absence. "There were...difficulties after I left campus yesterday."

She looked confused for a moment, then brightened, "That's right, I remember seeing you leave with young Mr. Jameson yesterday. I'm glad they were able to drop you off before they had to leave for Tokyo, though it's too bad you've missed morning classes. Do you think Evan will be able to attend tomorrow?"

_Leave for Tokyo? What the..._Heero covered his confusion with ease, but internally he was wondering what in the world was going on with his fr...acquaintance. "As far as I know, they should be able to conclude their business today."

The sister nodded her understanding then glanced at her watch. "Well, why don't you just head to lunch a little early? After your afternoon classes, you can head over to the office a pick up the assignments you missed this morning."

Heero nodded in agreement and headed for the cafeteria. Outwardly, he was as calm as ever, but his mind was whirling with possible reasons that Potter could have suddenly been called to Tokyo. Few of them were reassuring. Had those that were chasing the young man showed up? Was he running to avoid explaining to Heero what he had done the night before? For half a second Heero's paranoid mind wondered again at the possibility of the boy being a spy, but it was dismissed just as quickly. Why would he bother going to Tokyo to do that when all he would have needed to do was call the local base?

So what was going on!


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"Sharphook and Ironclank should be here soon, Lord Potter-Black, before they arrive I am require to ask if you are certain you wish for Mr. Lupin to be present as there will be many personal details of your estate to discuss," Handrock said as he pointed to two chairs.

Remus and Harry shared a look as they took the indicated seats.

"I'm sure," Harry stated, his voice brooking no questions. "Remus is..." Whatever else he was going to say was interrupted by a knock at the office door.

"What?" Handrock shouted, irritation in his voice, but the annoyed look on his face smoothed out as he recognized the two account managers he had been waiting for, along with an aide that was carrying various cases and books. "Lord Potter-Black, these are your account managers, Sharphook for the Potter Estate and Ironclank for the Black Estate." Handrock introduced. Without another word the Tokyo goblin and the aide, who had deposited his cases and books with the appropriate account manager, left the office.

Remus and Harry were more than a little confused when the goblin they thought they were to see left the room.

"Um, sir?" Harry tentatively addressed the older looking of the two goblins that remained, "What is going on, sir?"

Sharphook smile again at the respect the young human lord was showing for a supposed 'lesser being.' Glancing at his colleague, Sharphook replied, "Since you were emancipated last night, Lord Potter-Black, we are required to inform you all inheritances and legacies as soon as possible. You are also required to have your own will registered with the ministry of you country of residence as soon as possible as well. Since you have been named heir and magical heir of both the Potter and Black families, both estates now fall under your authority. Both Ironclank and I have work for these families for many years and it is our duty to inform you of everything that they entail."

Harry still looked a bit bewildered, but had the presence of mind to ask, "But I'm not a Black?"

"Harry," Remus said softly. "Sirius had you named his heir and magical heir just after you were born. The war was not going well, and he knew there was every likelihood that he would never be able to have children. He loved you and wanted to provide for you if anything happened as well as make sure that the Black fortune would never fall into the wrong hands."

Harry looked at Remus conflict showing on his face, but slowly turned back to the two goblins.

Nodding his head once decisively, Sharphook picked up one of the smaller books from the stack at his side and slid it across the desk to Harry. "To start with what you were already aware of, at least in part. This is a self-updating account book for your trust vault. Every deposit and withdrawal since the vault was opened is recorded in there. Currently the vault holds 14,609 galleons. It is annually refilled to its full balance of 15,000 galleons on July 31st. Upon your graduation from school, the vault can either be absorbed by the larger family vault or held open for your future child, whichever is your preference."

Harry swallowed hard as he accepted the book. He had known there was a lot of money in that vault, but his gut was telling him this was just the beginning.

"From the Potter Estate you also inherit the titles of Lord of the Ancient and Honourable House of Potter and the Lord of the Ancient and Wise House of Peverell (1). Your grandmother was the last magical Blood descendent of the Peverell line. It was her hope that the line might eventually be resurrected, but you are not held to that if you do not wish. At such time as you have children you can choose to separate the titles among your sons, but for the moment you bare them both. Both houses have seats on the Wizengamot. In the Muggle world, you also inherit the title Earl of Northshire and Baronet of Greenford(2) respectively." There was a savage sneer on Sharphook face as he added, "Most purebloods ignore their muggle titles, but they are still legitimate.

"Of course, the Potter and Peverell vaults, investments, and properties as well," pausing for a moment, Sharphook pulled out another smallish book for the stack beside him and slid it to the wide eyes teenager in front of him. "This is a listing of all the properties included in the Potter and Peverell estates. To summarize, you have two manor houses, one in England and one in southern Scotland, one castle in Northern Ireland, though in sad disrepair, and over a dozen vacation houses in various parts of the world, including the house you have been using here in Japan. The cottage in Godric's Hollow, of course, was destroyed at the time of Voldemort's first defeat, but according to the Goblin crew the surveyed the site at the time, it could be repaired if you should desire it. I believe the Castle is also salvageable as well."

Harry was more than a little shocked at just how wealthy he was and didn't even notice at first that Sharphook was waiting for his decision. Seeing the goblin was scowling just slightly at him, Harry replied, "Um, let me think about it, alright?"

Sharp hook nodded, and pulled out a pair of larger book from his stack, "These are the account records for both the Potter and Peverell family vaults for the last 15 years." Without further adieu, he pushed the books over to the young lord. "Total liquid contents of the vaults total just over 8,400,000,000 galleons, as well as various collections of artefacts and books."

Remus felt himself go a little faint at the sheer magnitude of the fortune Harry possessed. Had James really been that wealthy? Remus had know he was rich, but that rich?

At his side, Harry was struggling not to let his jaw flap around in utter shock. After a few moments, Harry managed to squeak, "What? How?"

Sharphook stared at the two humans, secretly enjoying the shock on their faces. Lifting the next book from his stack, he handed the medium sized book to the dark-haired teenager, "This is an account of every investment in the combined Potter/Peverell portfolio. As account manager, I was authorised to oversee all _existing _investments, while Sirius Black was charged with scouting new investments and markets. Due to his unfortunate incarceration, he was unable to and the interest, dividends, and other income from these investments has simply been piling up in your vaults for the last fourteen yours. This," Sharphook laid his hand on what had to be the largest book Harry had ever seen, "is the investment strategy I have worked on during that time, Lord Potter-Black."

Harry idly wondered if he could even lift that book, which was at least a three foot square and a foot thick. "Remus?"

Remus looked from Harry to the book of investments, but shook his head. "I'd have no idea what to do, Cub. I've rarely had enough to live comfortably on, let alone invest in businesses."

Harry heard the telling hitch between the words 'live' and 'comfortably' but didn't comment on it. "Well, um, Sharphook, would it be possible for me to let you do all of it? Both the overseeing and the new investing?"

Sharphook raised an eyebrow. He had hoped to be able to talk the new heir into exactly this, and here he was suggesting it himself. "Certainly, as soon as you officially take over as the Head of the family, you can authorise the change."

Taking a deep breath, Harry leaned forward, "So how do we do that?"

Sharphook shared a pleased glance with the still silent Ironclank, then turned to the cherry wood jewellery case that sat unremarked upon on the end of the desk. "All you need to do is to put on your family ring. As soon as the ring activates, it will detect your status as the Head of the House of Potter." Opening the box and handing it across the goblin, waited to see what the young man would do.

Harry accepted the box with some trepidation, but caught his breath as he saw the ring. It had a heavy gold band, etched with an intricate Celtic knot design down the sides and around the central stone. The stone was a blood red ruby, inset with the Potter family crest – a rearing Pegasus with the full moon bisected by a bolt of lightning nestled between the tips of its wings. Pulling the ring reverently from its velvet bed, Harry hesitated as he looked as his hands. Going with his instincts again, Harry slipped the ring onto his right ring finger and waited. As soon as it was in place the ring started to glow and a warm sensation began to spread through his body originating at his right hand. Harry closed his eyes as the glow grew more intense.

After only a minute or so, the glow receded, and the ring re-sized itself to fit Harry's hand.

"Very good, Lord Potter-Black, you are now officially and magically the head of the House of Potter," Sharphook said, unable to resist just a little smug satisfaction at having judged his new client correctly. The Potter family ring was well-known for being choosy. It had taken James Potter the better part of an hour to convince the ring that he was worthy to be the Head of the House of Potter. When asked about it later, the embarrassed young man had simply mumbled something about an ego. Sharphook still wasn't sure what he had been referring to, but he was very glad that this young man hadn't had to go through that kind of struggle. "How do you feel?"

Harry stayed silent for moment, then whispered, "Like...it approves. It's hard to describe, but I just suddenly feel sure that my parents would be proud of me." Harry opened his eyes and looked from Remus to Sharphook to Ironclank, "Does that make any sense?"

"Indeed, it does, Lord Potter-Black," Sharphook said. "Many family rings, including the Potter ring, are made something like the Sorting Hat of Hogwarts. The founders of the family place a minute amount of their power within the ring with criteria by which it should judge their descendents. Each head of house in turns adds a little bit of their power to preserve the enchantments."

Harry looked down at the ring for a few minutes, then straightened his shoulders and looked up at Sharphook. "What now?"

Sharphook smiled again, and was impressed when the teenager before him didn't so much as blink. "Just state your wishes as clearly as you can, Lord Potter-Black."

Harry smiled back slightly, before saying, "Just call me Harry, okay? Lord Potter-Black is a bit of a mouthful." Glancing at Remus as he thought about how to phrase this, he missed the surprised looks both of the goblins gave him. "How about this...I authorise Sharphook to oversee all issues pertaining to the portfolio of the Potter Estates, including buying and selling existing investments, research of new areas, markets, and strategies, and the establishment of new investments at his discretion. Does that cover everything?"

Sharphook could barely believe his ears. He had just been given carte blanche. For the first, and probably last, time in his life, Sharphook had been completely dumbfounded by a human. Clearing his throat slightly, he said, "That's certainly comprehensive,... Harry. I shall do my best to be worthy of this honour."

Harry shrugged, "You've been doing your best for me for fourteen years. I'm sure I can trust you to keep doing the same. So what's next?"

Over the next half hour, Sharphook continued bringing Harry up-to-date on everything that he had inherited from James and Lily Potter.

* * *

(1) No, I'm not bringing in the Deathly Hallows. This is just a tip of my hat to JKR.

(2) I'm pulling these titles out of a hat, so if these titles really exists, not offense was intended.


	16. Chapter 16

Ummm, hey guys! *ducks sheepishly* Sorry about the delay, but I've got another chapter for you. For those of you that were hoping to get right back to Heero, no luck, but I promise next chapter will be! Many, many, many thanks to all my reviewers. They are always an encouragement to keep writing.

On with the story...

* * *

**Chapter 16**

After Sharphook had finished walking Harry through the Potter estate, Ironclank started his portion of the meeting.

Standing, Ironclank pulled a small black wooden case from the top of the stack the aide had set beside him. "This is the last will and testament of the late Lord Sirius Black. Lord Potter-Black, as heir to the Ancient and Noble house of Black, you must place your hand on the case and state your full name."

"Please, call me Harry," he said absently, as he leaned forward and placed his right hand on the case. "My name is Harrison James Potter-Black."

A small line of yellow magic washed over Harry's hand before a small click was heard. Seeing Ironclank nodding, Harry pulled back his hand and sat back. After a second of silence the top of the case split down the centre and opened to reveal a folded document. Harry looked at the goblin in confusion when he didn't immediately move to pick it up. After another second the white piece of parchment stirred on its own and rose into the air, revealing red writing covering several pages. To Harry's surprise, it began to speak. It almost reminded Harry of a howler, except that the parchment wasn't red nor was it screaming at anyone.

"Well, well, looks like I finally bit the big one," came Sirius' voice from the paper. "Okay, first for all the boring parts. Ahm, I, Sirius Orion Black, on this 23 day of June of the year 193 after colonization, being of sound mind(hey, I'll have you know the goblins even agree with me.) and body and being under no mental, physical, or magical constraint, do hereby declare this to be my last will and testament and appoint the Goblins of clan Gringotts to be my executors, in accordance to the Black-Gringotts Inheritance Contract of 1613."

There was a short pause, then a well-known bark-like laugh sounded, "Okay enough with the stuffiness; let's get to the fun stuff. "First, to Remus John Lupin, I leave the sum of 1,000,000 galleons, and a small cottage located at 2383 Hartford Lane, Cornwall along with all of its contents. Ironclank can give you the keys and all the papers and stuff. Don't even think about protesting, Moony. Yes, I know you're there, since I know there is no way you would leave the pup alone at a time like this. I want you to have this, my brother. It's all I can do for you now."

Remus paid no heed to the tears that were starting to drip down his face as he listened, for the last time, to the voice of the man that had adopted him into his little family of misfits. Sirius Black had been the one to approach him on the train before first year, then later introduced him to James Potter and Peter Pettigrew. Black had often been petty, and on more than one occasion cruel, but Remus would be forever grateful for his infrequent bouts of compassion.

"To my dear cousins, Andromeda and Nymphadora Tonks, I leave 1,000,000 galleons each and a small locked truck that you can find in the master bedroom of the Black London townhouse. You know which house I mean, Remus." Remus nodded to show he was correct when Ironclank cast him a questioning look. "It has some of the Black family heirlooms that I remember Andromeda loved as well as part of mother's jewellery. It would driver the old hag batty to know that the ones she called a 'disgrace to the family' was wearing those baubles she was so proud of. So, Andy, Nymphy, hold your head high and show 'em off every chance you get!"

As more laughter sounded from the parchment, Remus and Harry couldn't help but smile at the mental picture as the wiped the tears from their cheeks.

"To Albus Dumbledore and the Flash Fried Turkeys, I leave you absolutely NOTHING! I've had enough of you, old man! If you want to keep using my house, you'll have to ask the new owner. And just for the record, pup, I'd suggest tossing them out on their ears! I don't know what that old lemon drop sucking loony is planning, but I don't trust him anymore. Watch yourself, Pup."

Remus and Harry exchanged a glance and smirked sadly. So Sirius had known, or at least suspected, that the old man was up to something. They had to wonder if he had had any idea of the Headmaster's final plan.

"And lastly to my godson, heir, and magical heir, Harrison James Potter, I leave the rest of my estates, titles, monies, and magics. I'm sorry, Pup; I tried to petition for you to be emancipated if I died before your majority, but Fudge turned it down. From what I was told he didn't even read the petition after he saw your name and just tore it up. When you reach seventeen, though, you have another seat on the Wizengamot, another muggle title, umm, Baronet of some-thing-er-other, (Ironclank will know), and of course another family ring. You can merge it into the Potter ring like your father did with the Peverell ring if you want, but I do ask that if you have several sons, that the titles and estates are divided between them. I'm not going to force you to, but as a personal request, I ask that you at least consider it. I know that the Black family name has become infamous for cruelty and hatred over the years. Maybe you and your future sons can erase the tarnish and restore the family to its former standing.

"Well, that's all the goodies, now I just have a few things to say to the two of you. Remus, I'm sorry. For so many things, but mostly for my idiocy. I know you never asked for an explanation, nor did I offer one, but I think you deserve one anyway. I never intended for Snape to know of your condition or your sanctuary, but...well, I told you about once great uncle Arcturus, didn't I? Well, he and I were the same. At least this way, the family curse dies with me. And if you're wondering what I mean, Harry, progressive insanity, I'm afraid. I made sure that the goblins checked me before I started this, and I'm good for now. I hate it, and I don't know how much longer I hold it together, but that is the way it is. I'm sorry."

Harry looked over at Remus with pain only to find Remus staring at the parchment in shock, his mouth working, as if he couldn't find the words he wanted to say. Laying a gentle hand on the older man's arm, Harry caught his attention and broadcast his concern with his eyes. Remus nodded his head quickly and mouthed, 'I'm okay.' Nodding, Harry turned his attention back to the will, just as Sirius said his name.

"And for Harry, I have a couple things to say, for what they are worth.

"1) Get away from the old coot. I know he is up to something. Not sure what, but something! He and Molly have been sneaking around headquarters for the last few months, and whenever I get close to them, they clam up. So step carefully and soon as you can, get as far away from him as you can.

"2) IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT!!!! I have no idea how I died, but I just want to make that very clear. I'm an adult, and I will take responsibility for my own actions. I only hope that I went out with a bang fighting and didn't get myself caught and kissed. Unless you pulled your wand and AK'd me of your own freewill, you are not to blame in anyway. I know how well you do guilt, even if you shouldn't.

"Well, I guess that's it folks, have a good life, and I don't want to see you anytime soon, understand?"

As the last words faded away in the meeting room, the parchment darkened and the writing on it turned from red to black as it gently floated back down into its wooden case. The case automatically closed itself and faded from black to white, indicating that the will had been read.

Silence reigned for a few minutes as the goblins allowed their clients some time to compose themselves. Finally Harry looked over at Sharphook and asked quietly, "Can I see my parents will? Even if I can't hear them, I'd like to see it."

Sharphook sighed, "I wish that were possible, but after their death, your parents' will was never found. According to Ministry of Britain, your parents' executor was Albus Dumbledore, but when he was asked to produce the will, he was unable to find it. He even asked for the assistance of Gringotts to search for the case, but no one could ever locate it."

Harry and Remus shared an angry look. Dumbledore again! They had to wonder just what he had been hiding. Turning back Harry nodded and turned back to Ironclank so he could explain the estate to him.

* * *

Two hours (and one new will) later, Harry and Remus left Tokyo and headed home via portkey, much to Harry's annoyance.

After arriving at the house, Harry and Remus both flopped down on the sofa and relaxed for a moment. Glancing down at his hand, Harry frowned thoughtfully at the rings that adorned his hands. He had decided to leave the family rings separate, even going so far as to separate the Potter and Peverell rings, but he couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed.

Harry had lived for ten years as a hated and despised burden, only to find out that he was famous for something that had happened before he could remember. For the next five years he had been bounce back and forth between two worlds; in one, he was despised for the air he breathed and in the other, people alternated between adoring him, pitying him, and hating him-changing their opinions on a whim-all based on an event that happened before he could walk stably. In one world, he was 'the freak', and in the other, he was 'the-boy-who-lived.' Almost no one in either world saw him as just Harry. A few did, Remus, for one, the Weasley twins, Luna, Neville, and Madam Pomfrey, of all people.

Most recently had been Heero. Heero wasn't really apart of either of the worlds Harry belonged to. It felt to Harry as if, instead, Harry had joined Heero's world, and he just wasn't sure how he was going to handle it. He knew that Heero was going to want explanations as soon as he saw him again tomorrow, and he didn't know what he was going to say.

* * *

Heero finished classed on Wednesday with an internal sigh of relief.

He had been dodging questions about Harry's whereabouts all day, and it was a little unnerving. They had only been here for two days, yet it seemed like half the school was worried about where the British boy was.

And though he would never have admitted it, even under pain of torture, Heero was worr...concerned as well.

Though he didn't understand the older boy, (Let alone the events that had transpired on the sub last night!) he had begun to feel something unfamiliar while in the boy's presence. Only now, with him unaccounted for (at least in Heero's mind), was he able to admit what that feeling was. Contentment. Maybe even a little bit of happiness. Harry had helped him without demanding answers or expecting anything in return. Odin Lowe had wanted an apprentice. Dr. J wanted a pilot. Duo wanted... well he wasn't sure what Duo wanted, maybe a partner for their mission? He'd figure it out eventually.

Tossing his books on his desk, Heero sat down to finish his homework for the next day.

Still, the incomplete picture Heero had of the other boy was bugging him no end. There were too many holes.

Tomorrow.

He would get some answers tomorrow.


	17. Chapter 17

Hi everyone, I've been having computer trouble since the last time I posted, but I've got a new machine now. :) Hopefully no more problems! :P

I've got a poll going on my author's page on whether or not you really want to read all of the Q&A and Explanations between Harry and Heero.

A couple of questions that came up...

**Will the G-boys see Moony/Remus change **- possibly. Heero will know that he is a werewolf, but actually seeing the change? not sure. If he/they do, it won't be for a while.

**Harry's animagus form **- Yes, Harry will end up training as an animagus, however I'll not give away what his form is here. I'll only say keep guessing, because so far no one has guessed right.

There's another A/N after the chapter, but I didn't want put it here since it only applies to a few people. I'm a bit annoyed about it, but I'll rant about that after the chapter is over.

To all my reviews, many, many thanks for staying with me so far!

So on with the chapter, hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 17**

Heero carefully, but quickly, straightened his tie as he headed for the cafeteria. It was 7:30 and H…Jamieson should be here any minute. Thanks to the last minute mission Heero had received last night, he was running late. The mission itself to blow up the shipment of Gundanium had been no problem, but getting in and out of the school undetected had been time consuming.

Stepping into the cafeteria, Heero quickly glanced around, but Jamieson was nowhere to be seen. Grabbing a quick breakfast, Heero moved to his usual table in the corner and sat down. Jamieson should be here soon, and if he wasn't… Well, Heero would just have to hunt him down and find out what in the world was going on.

* * *

Five minutes after Heero had taken his seat in the cafeteria, Harry was standing outside that same room trying to get up the courage to go in. He had already picked up yesterday's assignments from the office, but now he was facing different sort of challenge from what he was used to. He knew Heero was going to want answers, but Harry wasn't sure what he should tell him. He certainly wasn't going to lie to him, but what could he say that Heero was going to believe?

And to complicate matters further, there was also the Statute of Secrecy to consider as well. While the Japanese Ministry wasn't nearly as pick as the back in Britain, Harry didn't think they would subscribe to wholesale revelation either. On the other hand, Heero did have some magic, not a lot but some, so didn't he have the right to know about the magical world?

Not to mention the other incident Heero was probably going to want to discuss. Harry shuddered as he remembered the incident in the locker room on Tuesday. While he could hope Heero had forgotten about the scars in the excitement on the sub, Harry doubted it.

_Merlin, this is such a mess!_ Harry thought as he took a deep breath and pushed open the door. The first thing he saw was Heero, at his usual table, staring straight at him, his face unreadable. Swallowing his rising apprehension, Harry walked over to his friends table and sat down, "Sorry I missed you yesterday, but some things came up about my godfather's death, and we had to go into Tokyo to clear them up." Harry glanced down at his hand were he felt the weight of his family rings. Currently they were all under Notice-Me-Not charms, but the weight of the rings was a constant reminder to Harry of what he had learned the previous day.

"Hn," was Heero's answer, but the stoic pilot was watching the other young man closely. While H...Jamieson looked fine physically, Heero noticed that the older boy's eyes were darting around the room. He seemed on edge. "Everything cleared up?" Heero asked nonchalantly.

Harry started to nod, but then shrugged, "For the most part. I found out a few things that I didn't know, and I've got a lot of things I've got to sort through now, but I think all of the official stuff has been handled."

Heero caught Harry's eyes and gave him a measuring look. Seeing honesty and wariness on his green eyes, Heero nodded his acceptance of the answer. Glancing at the clock, Heero stood and nodded toward the door. Harry remained silent as he followed him toward World Affairs, their first class of the day, breathing a silent sigh of relief that Heero had believed him.

* * *

After World Affairs came Biology, then Algebra, and finally lunch. As had happened the first day, Heero and Harry ate quickly before stepping out onto the balcony to talk privately.

Heero could see Harry was struggling with what to say, so he took the initiative, "Did what happened at the base have anything to do with those that want to use you as a martyr?" Heero suddenly asked, having made sure there was no one nearby that could over hear them.

Harry looked slightly relieved as he joined Heero leaning against the balcony wall and nodded, "Yeah. I can't tell you a lot about it _here_, but I can say that there are people in this world that are different than most. For the longest time, I thought I was just a freak," Harry sighed. "When I was eleven, I found out there were lots of people like me, but…"

Harry explanation was cut off by the Matrons voice coming over the school PA system. "Attention, all students. As soon as you are done with your meal, please proceed to the main auditorium for a special assembly. Afternoon classes have been cancelled. I repeat, please proceed to the main auditorium for a special assembly. Afternoon classes have been cancelled."

Harry and Heero shared a glance with Harry looking confused while Heero just raised an eyebrow. Harry shrugged and the two dark-haired boys head back into the main building and the auditorium to find out what was going on.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later the auditorium was just about filled to capacity and both Heero and Harry were getting concerned. All of the teachers looked upset and some of the ladies looked like they were on the verge of crying. What had happened? Seeing the Matron walk slowly up to the podium, Heero and Harry gave her their undivided attention.

Clearing her throat, the Matron started the assembly, "I'm sure all of you know of the unrest that exists between the United Earth Sphere Alliance and the five clusters of Colonies that orbit our planet. Many members of our government work tirelessly to insure that peace is maintained and people are protected. Yesterday Vice Foreign Minister Robert Darlian went to L1X486D to investigate rumors of rebels and dissidents in the L1 colony cluster. Last night, an unknown rebel faction detonated a bomb in the meeting room where talks between the colony officials and the Vice Minster were taking place. There were no survivors." The Matron broke off as the murmuring of her audience rose to a roar.

Harry was shocked. Why would they do that? From what he had seen of the Vice Foreign Minister, the man true did want peace, so why would they kill him? Glancing at the mysterious boy beside him, Harry couldn't help but wonder if this had been the faction that Heero was a part of or was it been a different one.

Heero stared straight ahead as he processed what the Matron had just said. That wasn't possible. Dr. J had been adamant that the Vice Foreign Minister was a peace leader, and would not be a target for attack. Heero had been given a list of several names that he was to be very careful not to attack, even by accident, since they were leading proponents for peace and equality for the colonies. Darlian's name had been high on that list. There was something not right about this.

After a few minutes, the roar had settled and the Matron continued. "In the interest of keeping our students informed, we have decided to show for you the broadcast of the announcement of last night's tragedy. One update we can give that is not in this broadcast, is that Relena Darlian, whom many of you know was with her father on this trip, was not in the building at the time of the explosion. She was found by an unnamed benefactor and delivered to the spaceport early this morning. She is currently home with her mother."

A large viewing screen descended from the ceiling and the news broadcast started showing. As the students watched, the news anchor outlined the situation before turning to a female Alliance officer that had accompanied the Vice Minister to the colony. Harry was almost positive that the woman knew more about the situation than she was telling, but that was just a gut feeling. Harry was glad the Matron had updated them about Relena, since according to the news report she was missing without trace. While Harry couldn't say he particularly liked the girl, since her attitude reminded him too much of Malfoy, he knew she had to be going through a tough time right now.

Glancing over at Harry, Heero noticed the black-haired boy had a slight frown on his face and suspicion lurking on his face. Apparently the British native was not taking the newscast as gospel, as most of the students in the room seemed to be. Heero had studied many of the top Alliance and Oz officers as part of his training, and Colonel Anita Une had been one of them. She was General Khushrenada's personal aid and an expert with explosives. If anyone out of the delegation had been targeted it would have been far more likely for it to have been here, than Darlian, On the other hand, while Khushrenada was not a warmonger, per say, especially when compared to the likes of Septim and some of the older members of the Alliance military, he certainly wasn't against conflict. He was a master manipulator, according the Dr. J's information, and wasn't above nudging things in the direction he wanted them to go…by whatever means necessary, it seemed.

After the hour long news bulletin was over, the Matron stepped back to the podium. "In light of this troubling news, the staff has decided to cancel the last afternoon class and resume classes tomorrow morning. We have already notified you parents to the change of schedule, and they will start arriving soon. Our boarding students are free to return to their dorms as soon as the assembly is finished. Tomorrow's Spring Dance will occur on schedule.

"This had been a great tragedy, and the staff and faculty of St. Gabriel's Institute wanted to ensure our students are aware of the situation in the world around us. Relena will most likely rejoin us in the next couple of day, and while I'm sure you have many questions, I ask that you do not bombard her with them when she returns. Please have compassion and support her in this time of loss. Thank you, you are dismissed."

There was a moment of silence after the Matron finished, then the whispers and murmurs of several hundred students rose and many moved to leave the auditorium immediately. Heero and Harry stayed seated, intending to wait until the rush died down. After another ten minutes both boys stood and walked toward the exit.

"So what do you think about that?" Harry asked quietly.

Heero glanced quickly at the slightly taller young man. "Une probably knows more than she is saying about the incident."

Harry nodded his head, "Yeah, I got that idea, too. Maybe I'm crazy, but it almost looked like she was working on not smiling during a lot of that interview."

Heero darted another glance at his companion in surprise, though he easily kept his face blank. Harry had caught that? For having no training, he had good observation skills.

After exiting the school, Harry and Heero waited until it was Remus turn to pull up. After a couple minutes of silence, Heero said softly, "I take it your guardian is different 'like you'."

For half second Harry looked at him blankly, but understanding came quickly, "Yeah, mostly." Harry silent for a few seconds, then added, "Do you think you can come out to the house foe a couple hours? It would be a lot easier to explain things without the possibility of being overheard. It would just be you, me, and Remus. I promise I'll explain everything."

Heero frown slightly, but thought about the offer. He didn't know this Remus, but he was starting to trust Harry more and more. Besides, he had his gun on him. Heero caught Harry's hopeful eyes and gave a silent, curt nod in agreement, then went back to watching for the dark blue car he remember from yesterday.

"Thanks for giving me a chance, Heero," Harry whispered as he also went back to watching.

Heero glanced over at him, but said nothing.

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**Post-Chapter A/N (a.k.a. my ranting)**

**To those that thought chapters 15&16 were useless - **Sorry for disappointing you (and if you had signed the review/allowed private messages I wouldn't be saying this here) but there is an extremely important bit of information in Chapter 15, and a couple moderately important ones in Chapter 16. While I cannot speak for all authors, I do not appreciate being told my writing was useless. If you're confused and not sure why what was written was important, ask! I'll be glad to clarify. To see some of the reasons why said chapters were important see below. WARNING: Semi-spoilers below!

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Chapter 15 - Why did the Goblins specify that Harry's Grandmother was the last remaining MAGICAL descendent of the Peverell family?

Chapter 16 - How is Harry going to recognize his parents' will box if he has never seen a will box?

Chapter 16 - How is Remus supposed to be able to follow Harry and the G-boys around the world and eventually into space if he has no money?

Both - And maybe it's a little cliche, but Harry's being on good terms with the goblins can't hurt either, can it?


	18. Chapter 18

Hey everyone!

Here's the next chapter, and half of the explanations. I'm hoping to have the next chapter out soon, but we'll see how the guys cooperate on that. Many thanks to Kat, sho helped give the writer's block a kick. You know who you are. :)

**Heero and Remus: **Actually I should just say: see below :)

**Will other pilots know about magic?:** yes, all of them will know eventually, though whether any of the other pilots will be magical, hmmmm, I'll consider it, if people want me to go that route.

**Is Heero going to tell Harry about his secrets?: **yep.

**Animagus:** We have a winner! Slayen, you're close. Now if you can guess the species, you get cyber-chocolate chip cookies. :) I'll warn you it's a pretty rare mythological critter.

**Where is Hedwig?:** Ummm, I thought this was the year Dumbledore confiscated Hedwig so Harry couldn't contact anyone? I should probably go back and add a comment on that just to make things clear. Well, she'll be arriving soon, though she is going to have quite a time chasing Harry around for a while. :) Poor bird.

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Chapter 18

The ride to Harry and Remus' house was made in silence as all three occupants of the car were each lost in their own thoughts and concerns.

Heero silently watched the boy sitting beside him, pondering the spotty information he had been able to gather and trying to make sense of it as it applied to his own experiences with the teenager. It just didn't add up! For the first time in his life, Heero could actually say he liked another human being. He tolerated and put up with many people, but Harry was the first person he could honestly say he _liked_. Silently, Heero hoped that the evening discussion would turn out well, but he knew that whatever the case it was likely to be the last time he saw the other boy. His orders were to leave the area tomorrow night, and he had to follow orders. No matter his personal wishes, he still had a mission to fulfill.

Harry worked hard not to fidget as he sat in the backseat beside Heero. He knew Heero wanted answers, but he still wasn't sure how much he should tell him. And of course there was also the question as to whether or not Heero would believe him. A practical demonstration would help that, true, but he had seen how fast Heero could move when he felt threatened. Harry didn't know what he would do if he thought he was being lied to, but Harry had hope he would hear him out. Even with as little as he had been able to say before the announcement at the school, Heero had seemed to be keeping an open mind. There was also the question of how Remus was going to react to all of this.

Remus also kept his peace as he drove through the town, but his mind was whirling at a hundred miles an hour, wondering what was going on. All Harry had said when he picked the boys up was that he had invited Heero out to the house for the evening so they could discuss something in privacy. Since the last time Harry had been alone with Heero he had come home with blood on his hands and smelling of gunpowder, the idea of them having a private discussion without anyone else there made Remus more than a little nervous. Add to that the fact the brown-haired boy's blank stare made his supremely uncomfortable, and Remus was one edgy werewolf! What could they be discussing that required this kind of privacy?

After arriving at the house, Harry led Heero into the living room and politely asked if he wanted something to drink. A few minutes later found both boys sitting in silence, while Remus retreated to his study, trying not to look as anxious as he felt about what they were doing in the living room.

After waiting for Harry to start the discussion, only for the other boy to sit there opening and closing his mouth as if he just couldn't find the words, Heero asked, "How are these people different, Jamieson?"

Harry sent him a look of gratitude for giving him a place to start. "Call me Harry. We control a form of energy called magic that we can use to affect the world around us."

"Magic," Heero deadpanned, not sure if Harry was kidding, delusional, or just possibly telling the truth.

Harry nodded as he continued, "There is a hidden world of magic that has been kept separate from the normal world for several centuries. Since the Middle Ages, wizards and witches have taken precautions to make sure that the muggle, or non-magical, world does find out about them. They fear that normal humans would persecute or possibly experiment on them to find out the method used to control magic. Some of the more fanatical suggest there would be a return to witch burnings and such as well. There are very strict laws in many countries to ensure that the magical and normal worlds stay separate. Here in Japan the laws aren't as strict as they are in England, but they still exist."

Heero listened closely, but kept his expression neutral. That would explain what had happened Tuesday at the base, and if their world was hidden, that would also explain some of the holes in Harry's records. Any appreciable time spent in this 'Magical' world wouldn't show up in normal government files. "How do you know if someone is magical?"

"It something you're born with," Harry replied. "Children that are magical will have bouts of accidental magic when they are stressed or experiencing intense emotions. Usually minor things, like moving a plate of cookies where they can reach it, or something, but the frequency and magnitude depend on the child involved. When a magical child reaches the age of eleven they are usually invited to attend a school for wizards and witches."

Heero nodded his understanding, before asking, "What kinds of things can be done with this magic?" Heero's logical mind was screaming at him that the boy in front of him had to be insane, but Heero could shake the feeling that this was true. How else was he supposed to explain a fifteen year old appearing out of thin air and pulling the guns out of the hands of two gundam pilots when he was more than twelve feet from them? For that matter, even with Dr. J's enhanced healing, he should have be covered with bruises, will possible broken bones, from the fight with the OZ suits that first day, yet by that night he was perfectly healthy with not a mark on him. Plus this would explain part of why Harry's records were Swiss cheese for the last few years.

Harry relaxed as he realized that Heero was accepting his explanation. Leaning back, Harry smiled and started listing off some of the many things he had learned during his years at Hogwarts, even giving Heero some of the funnier anecdotes associated with them.

Two hours later, Remus stepped into the living room to tell them that he was starting dinner. He was relieved to find Harry talking animatedly, while Heero sat listening, a light of interest and curiosity in his eyes. Smiling slightly at the uncharacteristically relaxed expression on his cub's face, Remus had almost closed the door when he realized what Harry was talking about.

"…I'm not real sure why we learn to make hedgehogs out of pin cushions, but transfiguration can be used in a lot of other ways. I…" Harry was saying.

"Harry! What are you doing?" Remus broke in, eyes wide and darting between the two boys. He noticed the sudden tension in Heero, but was more concerned with what in the world was going on in Harry's head. Why in the world had he ignored the Statute of Secrecy so blatantly? Carefully, Remus slipped his hand into the pocket where he kept his wand. Unless Harry had a very, _VERY_ good reason for this, he was going to have to obliviate the muggle; something he hated having to do.

Harry started hard at Remus shout, but he calmly stepped between the shocked werewolf and his new friend. "Heero had already seen enough to call it, and besides this is his world, too!"

Both Remus and Heero looked at Harry as if he had lost his mind. Well, Remus looked it; Heero was only thinking it.

Harry looked sheepish for a moment, remembering that he hadn't actually told Heero the results of the scan he had done that first evening. "The first day, when I pulled you out of the surf, I ran a simple diagnostic that the nurse at Hogwarts taught me last year. One of the things it checks is the Merlin Rating of the patient. The Merlin Rating measures a person's magical potential. Heero rated as 5.53."

Remus blinked in surprise, then looked at the blue-eyed boy in surprise and new appreciation. Seeing the slight confusion in the boy's eyes, he asked in surprise, "You didn't know?"

Heero shook his head, "Until two hours ago, I had no knowledge of this magic or the magical world."

Remus frowned in concern, "That is unusual; you should have been contacted years ago, even if you are muggleborn. You aren't powerful enough for one of the elite schools like  
Hogwarts, but more than enough for a trade school or apprenticeship. Where do you come from originally?"

Heero was silent as he stared at his hosts and weighed his options.

Harry bit his lip as he looked between Remus and Heero. "Umm, maybe we shouldn't…"

Heero interrupted his hesitant attempt a peacekeeping, by shaking his head and saying, "I was born in the L1 colony cluster." Since there were nearly a hundred separate colonies in the cluster, Heero figured that would be vague enough to not give anything important away.

Remus eyes nearly popped out of his head, "But that's impossible!"

Heero raised an eyebrow, "Why?" Heero actually had to resist the urge to snicker at the dumbfounded expressions on Harry and Remus' faces.

"Because there's no magic in space!" Remus yelped.

Harry frowned at Remus, and asked, "According to whom?" Harry's shock had simply been that Heero was from the colonies. Harry had never before known anyone who had been in space, never mind being born and raised there. He had so many questions!

Remus looked stymied for a moment, before muttering, "Dumbledore and the ministry. I get your point." Smiling ruefully, he left the two teenagers to their conversation and went back to making dinner.

Heero watched Remus leave and was reminded of what Harry has said earlier about his guardian being 'mostly' like him. "What did you mean about Lupin being mostly like you?"

Harry glanced toward the door and sighed. "Just like muggles, wizards have their own set of prejudices. One of the most common is blood status. Another common one is a prejudice against most magical species that are not human. Veela, Elves, Goblins, and Giants to name just a few. Remus is a werewolf. On the night of the full moon, he shifts into a wolf that, unless he takes precautions, is totally insane with bloodlust. He is really a very gentle and caring man, but because of his curse, people see him as a dangerous beast." Harry scowled at the thought of some of the slight and restrictions that were placed on the gentle man for something that he had no control over.

Heero eyed the door Remus had left through carefully, but one word in Harry's little speech had caught his attention, "Curse?"

Harry nodded, though the scowl didn't fade. "The werewolf curse is spread through the bit of a transformed werewolf. While the werewolf is human, he's like any other human, but while transformed, their bit will turn the victim into a werewolf. That is, if they survive the attack. Remus was bitten when he was eight years old. He was one of my father's best friends when they attended Hogwarts and has acted as a second Godfather to me since we met three years ago."

Heero kept his face impassive as his interest perked up. Second godfather? So who was the first? "Then where is your original godfather?"

Harry twitched and closed his eyes in pain. "Dead."

Heero kept quiet, knowing he had just stumbled into a painful area for his new friend.

Harry swallowed hard, but knew that Heero meant no harm by his question. "My godfather was framed for murder when I was very young. He finally escaped from prison a few years ago, but we've never been able to prove it. Sirius was killed saving my life less than a month ago." Harry looked over at the other boy, and to his surprise, he saw understanding in his cobalt eyes.

Again Heero remained silent, forcefully reminded of the death of his first guardian, Odin Lowe. Odin had never been the demonstrative man, but Heero knew he had cared for him in his own way. He did wonder sometimes what his life would have been like if he hadn't died. Even at the age of seven with a grasp of emotional control that rivaled most professional assassins thanks to the man, Heero felt pain do to the measure of affection he had held for the man. Seeing the pain blatantly displayed on Harry's features, Heero knew that the older boy had loved the man dearly.

This was the scene when Remus returned to get them for dinner. Frowning slightly at the somber atmosphere, Remus looked between the two, hoping Heero hadn't said something to upset the fragile bond that was growing between the two.

Seeing the concerned expression on Remus' face, Harry managed a slight smile and murmured, "It's nothing, just remembering."

Remus nodded as he dredged up his own smile and led the way into the dining room.

After everyone was served, Heero decided to bring up one other question that he wanted answered, considering what Harry had said the day they met and what he had learned today, "Why do these wizards want you to be a martyr?"

Both Harry and Remus froze at the logical, yet oh-so-complicated, question.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N:** Yikes! Been a long time, I know, but I am back! This is a longer chapter, but not real exciting. Next chapter, though, should get back to the good stuff. This a little long winded, but I wanted to show the interaction between Harry and Heero and Heero's reactions what he was hearing. So, please, no complainy!

**Animagus: **Nobody's got it yet, but I'll give you a hint. It's a hybred type creature, i.e. like a gryphon is half lion/half eagle. And while most animagus are mundane animals, I've always been fascinated by the possibility of magical animagus, though more than likely only those that are very powerful _might_ have a magical form. See my rating system below, only those that rate as mages and sourcerors might. Not that they are guarranteed to, but they have the possibility. As such, they are very, VERY rare!

**Relationship: **This is going to be strictly a Friendship/Family affection story. I can't write romance to save my life.

**Legal proceedings against Dumbledore et al: **More than likely, yes. Unless Heero gets to him first that is. :)

**Heero's Magic:** Just like Harry, Heero was born with his magic, it was not a result of Dr. J's tampering. Not that J's tampering might not have done something to his magic. *whistle's innocently* As to the Merlin Rating system, it's something I invented for another story that never got passed the planning stages so I adopted it into this one. It will be explained in story, but not for a while as the boys are about to get busy again, and Heero just wasn't interested in hearing about it right now. If curious see next note:

**Merlin Rating System:  
**0.00-1.00 = Muggle  
1.01-3.50 = Squib  
3.51-7.00 = Hedge Wizard (Heero)  
7.01-15.00 = Wizard (Average wizard, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Remus)  
15.01-18.50 = Mage (Dumbles, Voldie, Harry)  
18.51-20.00 = Sourceror (Merlin)

That's all the questions that came up, I think. Again many, MANY thanks to everyone that reviewed the story. Reviews are pure motivation, and believe me my muse needs all the motivation she can get! Now...

On with the story!

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**Chapter 19**

Harry glanced at Remus, but there was no help coming from that quarter. Then again, Remus didn't know the whole story anyway.

Sighing, Harry started to explain as they started to slowly eat, "In order to understand that, I'm going to have to give you a bit of history. About forty years ago, a young wizard by the name of Tom Riddle started dipping into the Dark Arts in search of power. Dark Arts is a branch of magic that is both fed by and feeds a person's emotions. Since his emotions centered on greed and anger, the Dark Arts he used just bolstered that. According to some of the things I've read, the Dark Arts are addicting, just like an illegal drug.

"Young Tom Riddle changed his name to Lord Voldemort and began a campaign to totally cut off the magical world from the muggle world, citing the muggle world's actions against magical kind in centuries past. He felt that muggleborn magical folk were aberrations and should be just left in the muggle world, that the danger of exposure to was too high to invite them into the magical world. Many powerful pureblood families agreed with him, but there were enough halfbood and tolerant pureblood families that he was not able to take power and cut off all contact.

"That just made him angrier and more determined. He gathered many followers which he called the Death Eaters, started to attack anyone that disagreed with his agenda, and staged raids against muggleborns and their families and sympathizers. Soon most of the wizarding world was terrified of him and started to call him things like You-Know-Who and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Kind of ridiculous if you ask me," Harry added wryly.

Heero didn't say anything, but mentally he was agreeing with him. Harry continued when he nodded his head slightly in encouragement. All this was a little fascinating, but it hadn't answered his question yet.

"Eventually it just got to the point where most people wouldn't stand up to him or his followers at all. At the height of his power, Voldemort started hunting two young couples viciously. At the time no one knew exactly why. Both couples were opposed to him, but he usually didn't go to the extremes to find his targets as he was doing this time. My parents were one of the couples."

Harry sighed again as he gathered his thoughts, "My parents went under a special spell, called the Fidelias, which hides the location of a place so thoroughly, that there is only one person, called the Secret Keeper, that can tell anyone where it is. It erases memories, documents, everything. For their Secret Keeper, they chose a man that had been my father's friend all through Hogwarts, but he sold them out to Voldemort. He came to our house on Halloween A.C. 180 and used the Killing Curse to murder my parents and then tried to kill me. Instead the spell rebounded and hit him, ripping his soul from his body and leaving him as a wandering spirit. That's how I got this scar," Harry finished as he reached up and lightly traced the lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

Heero blinked sharply. A.C. 180? Harry would have been all of a year old. It coincided with when Harry appeared in the Dursley household, so that fit, but why would this Voldemort try to kill a baby; he wouldn't have been any threat, would he? "Why would he try to kill you?"

Harry flinched, he really didn't want to have to explain this to Heero and Remus, but he had promised to explain everything. "There was a prophecy made about the defeat of the Dark Lord, and it pointed to two people, either me or a good friend of mine. Voldemort heard the first part of it and decided I was the bigger threat, or maybe he just found out where we were first, I don't know about that. By doing that he fulfilled part of the rest of the prophecy without knowing it."

"Prophecy?" Heero just managed to keep the skepticism he felt off his face, though it still tinged his voice as he spoke. A whole civilization was persecuting a teenager over some hokey prophecy? How pathetic were these people?

Remus was working hard to keep the shock and horror he felt off his face as he listened to Harry tell his tale. A prophecy? All this had been because of a prophecy? Seeing Harry's downcast expression, he laid a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder. Hearing Heero's skeptical inquiry, Remus picked up the explanation. "Prophecies are fairly common in the Wizarding world, but no one should place too much faith in them, since they are prone to being overridden and misinterpreted. I take it Dumbledore and V…Voldemort believe in this one?" Remus addressed the last sentence to the black-haired young man.

Harry nodded his head. "Dumbledore believes it, but he also believes that since I supposed to be strong enough to defeat Voldemort, that means that I'll be even more dangerous than he was. The scar I got when he tried to kill as a baby created a connection between us. Dumbledore had been working on widening that connection so that when one of us dies, we will both die." Harry finished his explanation in a flat monotone voice, staring down at his hands.

As Heero listened to the conclusion of the explanation, he had to exercise all of his many lessons in emotional control. "Who is this Dumbledore?" Heero asked, his voice flat and tightly controlled.

Harry glanced up, wary at the tone of his new friend's voice. "Albus Dumbledore is the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the magical school I used to attend. He has been working to stop Voldemort since his first rise to power and currently he leads most of those that are on the side of light magic. He's also the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards. Not real sure what that last one is really, but the Wizengamot is the British Wizarding World equivalent to the Parliament. If Voldemort is the Dark Lord, Dumbledore would be considered the Light Lord."

"The International Confederation of Wizards, or ICW for short, is roughly equivalent to the old United Nations. It has some sway over international politics, but not nearly to the level of the United Earth Sphere Alliance the muggles have now." Remus clarified for both boys.

"Dumbledore sounds like some of the OZ leaders in the Alliance," Heero remarked, scowling openly.

Remus sighed, "I agree. Even before Harry told me the full extent of his plans, I had noticed the Dumbledore didn't seem to think of those around him as people, but as just pawns to be moved around at his whim. Harry and I have managed to give him the slip for now, but sooner or later he is going to catch up with us, and we will have to move. I've started training Harry, and we are trying to close the connection he has, but with the damage that has already been done, we aren't sure but that it might already be irreparable."

Heero's scowl darkened further. "And the physical damage? Was that part of his plan too?"

Harry stiffened, and darted a glance at the werewolf. Damn! He had forgotten that Heero had seen his scars. Remus knew the Dursleys were neglectful, but he had no idea the extent of the abuse Harry had suffered.

"Physical damage?" Remus asked, completely confused. "What do you mean?"

Heero didn't say a word, but just looked that his new fr…acquaintance with an eyebrow raised.

Harry remained silent for a few minutes as he glanced around the room. Finally he whispered, "I'm not sure if the Headmaster put them up to it or not, but he certainly didn't do anything to stop it."

Remus gazed at the fifteen-year-old in concern, "Cub? What do you mean?"

Harry glanced at the older man again, but turned to Heero to give a full explanation, voice devoid of any emotion. "After my parents were killed, I was left with my mum's sister and her husband and son. Aunt Petunia hated my mother. I think she might have been jealous, but whatever the reason, she hated me just as much. I lived in the cupboard under the stairs for the next ten years, even thought the house had four bedrooms. I cooked, cleaned, did the gardening, and anything else the needed to be done around the house, but I usually just ate scraps and leftovers, and considering Dudley and Vernon's appetites, that wasn't much. And if I didn't get things done on time, or the way they wanted, I was punished for it. If I did better than Dudley at school, I was punished. Dudley was a bully and I was his favorite target, so if he and his gang caught up with me, I was beaten up." Harry glanced down for a moment, and then continued. "It usually wasn't too bad, I mean, a couple of smacks never killed anyone, but once in a while, if things were going badly at work, Vernon would start drinking, and…things would get a lot worse for me."

Remus had slid his chair closer to his cub's when the explanation started, but now he couldn't resist slipping his arm around the boy's shoulders.

"I shouldn't complain," Harry said quietly. "Others have been through a lot more. At least all Vernon ever did was take a belt to me."

Heero remained silent throughout Harry's account, but internally he was seething. If there was one thing Heero hated almost as much as he hated OZ, it was child abuse. His childhood might not have been the most loving, but both Lowe and Dr. J made sure he was provided for.

"What else, cub?" Remus asked softly, gently running his hand through the boy's hair, trying to lend him as much comfort and support as possible.

Harry shrugged, "Not much. I wore my cousins hand me downs, even though he was always at least five sizes bigger than me. Unless I was going to school, I wasn't allowed to take a bath until the smell got so bad Aunt Petunia couldn't take it anymore. Then I was handed a bar of cheap soap and told to use the water hose in the back garden. I ended up with a lot of infections because of that. I hate the feeling of being dirty," Harry declared with a slight shiver.

Glancing up Harry saw the incredulous expression on Remus face, and he snorted, "The Dursleys waste hot water on that 'dirty little freak'? Not in this lifetime! The first time I ever had a hot shower was at Hogwarts. I must have stayed in there for over an hour." Harry grinned at the memory.

After a few moments of silent, Heero murmured, "I understand." He promised himself he was going to be doing some research on this Vernon Dursley. If he ever got to England, he vowed he would find a way to pay the man back for his 'loving care' of Harry. Weighing his options and the information he had gained today, Heero made up his mind, "You were right when you said I was part of the resistance, but we had nothing to do with Darlian's death."

Harry perked up immediately when Heero mentioned he had been right in his guess, firmly pushing the bad memories of his relative to the back of his mind. "Do you have any idea who it was then?"

Heero blinked at Harry sudden change of mood but didn't react other than that. "I cannot be sure, but I suspect that Colonel on may have been involved. She is an expert on explosives and is the personal assistant of General Treize Khushrenada. Khushrenada and Darlian have been on opposite sides of the Colonial issue for years."

"But…" Harry started only for Remus to interrupt.

"Boys, I know that you have a lot more to discuss, but it is getting late and if Heero is to get back to campus on time, we need to leave soon." Remus pointed out, just as the clock chimed nine o'clock.

Harry frowned slightly, but nodded his understanding.

Heero added as he stood and moved to grab his uniform jacket. "I cannot tell you much more in any case."

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, Heero stepped out of Remus car at the front door of his dorm. After arranging to meet Harry the next morning as usual, Heero headed into the building. Nodding to the upper classman manning the night desk, Heero went up to his room.

Booting up his computer, he found notes about a mission Deathscythe had had in the area… and an order from Dr. J for him to vacate the area within 48 hours.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: **Whoa, back so soon? Yep! I've finished the class I've been taking and in celebration, here's another chapter! I've got a poll going about whether to break this into two stories or just keep going with one, please everybody, give opinions. It's only going to be up for a little while, so don't wait too long if you plan to vote. Many thanks to all my reviewers, they always help.

Special thanks to fairygirl8301, my 500th reviewer for this story!

I am looking for some one that would be willing to help me with this thing if anyone is interested, just for betaing and to bounce ideas around. PM me if interested.

No new questions came up with the last chapter, so on with the story! Enjoy!

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**Chapter 20**

Sending Harry off to do his homework as soon as they arrived home, Remus headed into the study to think about everything he had been told tonight. It was a lot to take in, and Remus was having trouble deciding where to go from here. He knew was torn between taking Harry away and wrapping him up in cotton to keep him safe or tearing off after Voldemort and Dumbledore himself. Of course the fact that the full moon was the day after tomorrow was not helping that last urge either.

Speaking of which, he needed to finish the arrangements he was making to be locked in the basement tomorrow, Remus mused. He had already been taking Wolfsbane Potion, purchased from the Apothecary Shop in the local magical district, but he wasn't about to take the chance. Harry had already started studying the animagus transformation, but he had been able to transform yet. Tomorrow morning and afternoon would be spent transfiguring the cellar into an appropriate holding area and setting up wards and spells, just in case the Wolfsbane wasn't effective. While Snape might be correct in saying there was no 'wand-waving' in potions, the power and precision of the potion's maker was directly tied to the power and effectiveness of the potion. It was one of the reasons true potions masters were so rare. Even a less powerful brewer could make good potions, if he was precise enough, but a truly great potions master had to be both. And Wolfsbane had to be made by a master.

Remus sighed as he looked toward the book cases that he and Harry had added to the room. There was also the issue of Heero. From what he had observed this evening, Heero seemed to be a decent young man, though that unemotional mask he maintained unnerved Remus a bit. As a hedge wizard, Heero should have been contacted and tested for training years ago.

Since hedge wizards didn't have enough magic to cover all of the different areas of magic, they were tested for natural affinities and aptitudes and then trained into a profession that they could enjoy. Most hedge wizards ended up working as craftsman and led full and happy lives in the wizarding world. Strangely enough, there were very few Muggleborn hedge wizards; something Purebloods tried very hard to forget.

Frowning slightly, Remus stood and walked over to the book case. Pulling out a few of the books, Remus thought about what little Heero had said before he left. Being werewolf on the fringes of the Wizarding World, Remus was familiar with the more recent developments of the UESA, and he agreed that things needed to change and quickly. If even half of the things he had heard were true! Remus shuddered as he recalled the rumor that the Alliance had once used biological weapons to 'sterilize' old colonies that they wanted to scrap…while they were still inhabited! While Remus and Harry shouldn't really get involved, maybe they could still help from behind the scenes? Surely a few books and some instructions would cause too many problems, right? Besides, as Harry had said, this was Heero world as much as it was theirs. He had a right to know his own heritage.

Nodding to himself, Remus started looking through the shelves looking for books to send to Heero tomorrow. Considering his involvement in the resistance, Remus doubted he would remain in the area long, perhaps not even as long as he and Harry would be here, but hopefully he would be able to take a few books on charms, potions, and defense with him when he left. If Remus made sure they pretty self explanatory, they might be of some help. The only question Remus had was how were they going to get him a wand?

HPGWHPGWHPGWHPGW

The next morning, Harry shambled into the kitchen looking half asleep, causing Remus to smile fondly at the boy.

Seeing the amusement on his former professor's face, Harry yawned and mumbled, "Was up late finishing my homework."

Remus nodded, but said nothing as he slid a cup of hot chocolate to the teen. Coffee would have been better, but Harry couldn't stand the stuff. Still sugar and caffeine would perk him up in a few minutes. Pushing the second loaded plate to his house mate as he started to eat, Remus said, "I've pulled out a few books for you to take to Heero this morning. Just some beginner's guides to charms, defense, and potions. I know he would never be able to make the higher level potions, but there are some really useful lower level ones, if he has the talent for it."

Harry nodded as he ate his eggs. "How is he going to get a wand though?"

Remus sighed, "I've been trying to figure that out myself. We guess we'll just have to take him to get one this weekend. Almost done?"

Harry nodded as he stuffed the last bite of toast in his mouth.

Remus hid his smirk at Harry's impression of a chipmunk, "The books are on the desk in the study. Why don't you go get them and stash them in your bag, and I'll meet you at the car."

Harry nodded as he stood to go. "Sure." As he headed for the study, Harry wondered where Heero's aptitudes would lie. Stepping through the doorway, Harry stopped in shock, staring at the stack of a dozen books sitting on the desk. _I thought Remus said a 'few' books?_ Shaking his head with a wry smile on his face, Harry quickly opened his book bag and started dropping them in. Silently he was thanking Merlin for Bottomless Bags and weightless charms, otherwise he would have been dodging a lot of questions about the library he was lugging around.

As Harry turned to leave, he paused in thought. Heading back to the bookcase, he quickly located one more book that he thought might do Heero some good and added it to his bag. It was the first book Madam Pomphrey had had him read when he first started to ask about healing magic. He hadn't finished mastering everything in it yet, but he could always get another copy.

HPGWHPGWHPGWHPGW

Heero sat at his usual table in the cafeteria, musing on his imminent departure. He had already informed the administration that his 'guardians' were calling him home do to a family emergency. Tonight he would erase all of his records and fly out. However, surprisingly, he found himself slightly reluctant to follow these orders. He understood that between his sabotage at the Marina and destruction of the Gundanium shipment, the destruction of the carrier group of the coast by Deathscythe, his original confrontation upon entry, and this latest raid by Deathscythe; the area was going to be under intense scrutiny by the Alliance. It was better to get out now while the search covered a larger area than to wait until they started to narrow the search.

That didn't stop him from wishing he could stay. For all the training and conditioning he had received, Heero still retained the very human desire to stay in a place that made him comfortable.

Sighing, Heero finished his breakfast and tossed the remains. It wasn't possible though. Setting aside his own desires, Heero glanced up when Harry sat down beside him at the table, a small smile on his face.

"How are you doing this morning? Ready for the dance this evening?" Harry asked, a touch of wry sarcasm touching his voice when he asked about the festivities planned that evening.

"Hn," Heero just grunted, though he did allow a small frown at the idea of the party that would be going on. It would make getting Wing out without being seen more difficult. He would probably have to wait until after midnight to leave.

"I've got some books about that stuff we were talking about yesterday," Harry said nonchalantly, giving Heero a significant look. "We'll just have to go shopping and get you some supplies this weekend."

Heero raised an eyebrow. Books about magic? Could be useful, if he could learn how to use it. But with the withdrawal order, he wouldn't have the time. "I have to leave this evening. Family emergency." Heero didn't have to fake the disappointed tone in his voice.

The smile immediately fell from Harry's face to be replaced with concern and sadness. "So soon?" Heero just nodded, but didn't reply. After a few moments of silence, Harry spoke up again, "Well, even if you are headed home, do you think you could take them with you? They're just beginner's books, and maybe you could figure out part of them yourself? I…I just think it could help you out later."

Heero raised an eyebrow at Harry's insistence. He seemed determined to help even though he wasn't involved in this fight. Thinking quickly, Heero nodded slightly. Some of what Harry had described yesterday sounded useful, even if he had to puzzle it out for himself. It might not be useful in a dogfight, but the stealth applications of that…what did he call it, again?… Dellusionment charm?...something like that…it was well worth looking into. "Should have some space to fit them," Heero allowed. "Returning them might be problematic."

Harry shrugged, offhandedly, "No problem. Like I said they're only beginner's books." Glancing at the clock, the young wizard started to stand, Heero matching his movements a moment later. "Should probably head for class. The books are in my bag in my locker, so why don't I bring them up to your room after class. Any chance I could hang out with you this afternoon until the party this evening? Remus has some stuff he has to do for tomorrow night at the house, and I don't want to have to drive home just to have to drive back tonight."

Heero raised an eyebrow, slightly curious as to what his companion's guardian was doing, but gave a small nod and an indistinct, "Hn."

HPGWHPGWHPGWHPGW

Friday's class passed both too slowly and far too quickly. Harry could have sworn time was crawling as he dreaded losing his new friend, yet be for he knew it, he had picked up his book bag from his locker and they were headed back to Heero's dorm room.

As they stepped into the room, Harry looked around and was saddened to see a couple of suitcases already packed and sitting by the door, and other sat open on the bed waiting for the last few items to be added. Glancing back at his silent host, Harry asked, "Anything I can do to help?"

Heero considered for a moment, "Negative. I will be waiting until the party starts to erase my files."

Both boys sat done and fell into silence as Harry opened his bag. Heero couldn't help raising an eyebrow in surprise as Harry kept pulling books from the bag…far more books than he would have thought it possible for the average sized book bag to have held.

As Harry stacked the last book on the edge of the school desk, he caught the expression Heero's face and grinned, "Bottomless Bag. You can put almost anything in it and it never gets full."

"What about weight?" Heero asked eyeing the stack of books. While Heero's strength was enhanced thanks to Dr. J tampering, even he had his limits. Plus he was always limited by what his hands could grasp. A bag like this, as long as it would tear from its own weight, would be a tremendous advantage.

"Weightless charms," Harry answered with another grin at the interested gleam Heero had not been entirely successful keeping out of his eyes. Making a fast decision, Harry pulled his school books back out of the bag and pushed it into Heero's hands. "Here, you take it, I can get another easily." While the bag hadn't been cheap, he could definitely afford another one.

Heero worked hard to keep the shock off his face. What in the world? His eyes narrowed momentarily, before Heero dismissed his almost instinctive suspicion. But why was Harry giving him all of this. Unable to resist, Heero voiced his confusion, "Why?" while nodding to the stacks of books on the desk and the bag in his hands.

Harry looked down momentarily, before meeting Heero's forthright blue gaze. "We're both soldiers, Heero, just in different wars. From what I know, however little it is, I have come to believe that you are fighting on the right side of things. Remus picked out most of those books, which tells me he believes in you too. Besides that, you've become my friend. I can't fight for you, but I can help you fight for yourself. If we had the time, I would have tried training you and teaching you as much as you magic would allow. Instead, all I can do is give you as many tools as I can, and hope you can do the rest. These books cover charms, defense, potions, and healing. You probably won't be able to do most of it, and you need to get a wand as soon as possible, but if even one thing in those helps keep you safe, it's worth it."

Heero was shocked, stunned, dumbfounded….Frankly he wasn't sure if any of those words were strong enough to cover the emotion he was feeling as he stared blank faced at the black-haired teenager sitting in front of him. Harry was…trying to protect him? It was a novel experience, having someone that was concerned about his well-being. The closest he had ever come to that before was the little girl he had met in the park. Lowe had been more concerned about his cover and Heero's ability to provide backup, and Dr. J's only priority had been the mission. Anything he provided was intended solely to ensure the success of the mission.

Quickly swallowing a surprisingly large lump in his throat, Heero dipped his head in an abbreviated bow and murmured, "Arigatou," in unremembered imitation of the day they first met.

"You're welcome," Harry said softly, smiling slightly. After a few seconds of silence, Harry spoke up again, "Well, we've still got a couple hours until the party starts, so why don't I give you some info for later? You need supplies, and I know a few places you could look in different cities to get them."

Heero nodded, and paid close attention as Harry listed the Magical Shopping districts he knew. Granted unless he ended up in Tokyo, London, or Sydney. When Harry mentioned the last one, Heero raised a brow in question.

Seeing the questioning look on Heero's face, Harry shrugged, "When we were looking into getting out of Britain, Remus mentioned spending time in Australia. I have a house near Sydney so I looked it up. I've never actually been there, but it's good to have a backup play, you know?"

Looking at the list, Heero mentally sighed. It didn't look like this was going to do him much good, but it was better than no chance at all.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N:** It's been another month, but here's a Christmas chapter as a present for everyone that's been following along. Hope you like :)

**Possible Story split: **Well, we'll put that off for a while, but there will eventually be a break. I've already started a little tenative plotting on the sequel. And it is a sequel rather than having two stories running concurrently like some people were thinking, but you'll see why in this chapter. It won't be until after the second break in GW canon though, so it'll be a while I think.

**Harry and Heero related:** Ah, no. But Harry is related (distantly) to one of the pilots. Happy guessing!

**Harry meeting the other pilots: **Well, originally I thought they would probably meet up with the other pilots on the same time schedule as Heero did, but I may speed up that time frame, depends on how things go. I'm pretty sure, he and Duo are going to be getting along quite well soon. :)

**GW Boys - all magical?:** Ummm, I'm leaning toward not all of them, but I am still considering it, because I could see where it could both be logical and interesting. At least 2 more will be though, but...hmmm...as I said I'm still trying to decide.

**Will Ron & Hermione straighten up?:** As far as I have plotted out for now, Hermione is going to get a major wakeup call during one of the GW events, but that isn't going to be for a while. Ron, however, *snort* sorry for anyone that was hoping for his redemption, but it is not likely. But then stranger things have happened.

**New Poll (again :P):** I'd like some input on what area or areas of magic you could see Heero having talents in. I've got 6 possibilities at the moment (Potions, Healing, Transfiguration, Charms, Mind Magics, and Stealth) If you have other ideas, I'll add them to the poll.

Well, that's all so on with the story... and Merry Christmas everyone!

**

* * *

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**Chapter 21**

_**Back in England**_

The day after Fudge's discovery at Privet Drive saw Headmaster Dumbledore scrambling to salvage as much of his plans as possible. It wouldn't take long for people to start questioning why the Boy-Who-Lived had run away from his relatives and when those questions started flying, Dumbledore had to be sure he had answers that would placate the sensibilities of the wizarding public. After all it wouldn't do to have people questioning his decisions, would it?

Even worse, however, the boy was out there somewhere outside of Albus' contr… er, protection. If the Death Eaters found him now, it was unlikely the connection between he and Voldemort was strong enough to finish off the half-blood monster. Until it was, he could not be allowed to die. It would ruin everything! Dumbledore had to find him fast.

Scowling, Albus stared at the uncooperative snowy owl that was currently perching beside Fawkes in the Headmaster's office.

As soon as he had read the article in the Daily Prophet at breakfast this morning, Dumbledore had practically run for the Owlry, ignoring the questions and exclamations being thrown at him by the professors. Retrieving the brat's trusty owl, he had returned to his office and written a short message, added a portkey to immediately bring him back to Hogwarts, and attempted to tie it to the owl to deliver. To his shock, Hedwig had immediately started to peck and fight him. The scratches on his face and hands attested to the vehemence with which the owl had fought him over the last twenty-four hours. Several times over the last day, Dumbledore had tried to give the owl letters with portkeys or tracking charms, but the blasted bird refused to take any missive from him for the boy.

He didn't have time for this! He had to find the brat as soon as possible, and this should have been the easiest way to do it. The entire British Wizarding World was searching for the boy. If he didn't find him first, it could totally ruin all of his plans, and that couldn't be allowed to happen. Scowling harder at the bird, Dumbledore thought hard. Apparently the boy's trust in him had waned farther than he thought, if he had taught the bird not to take letters from him. So who among the staff would the boy still trust? Certainly not Severus. Perhaps Minerva, as his Head of House? Yes, she would be closest to the boy.

Standing abruptly, Albus stalked over to the perch and roughly grabbed the jesses he had managed to get on the obstinate bird yesterday. Not that it had made the bird anymore tractable, but it did cut down on the clawing he received. "Come along, you bloody bird," Albus said, ignoring the indignant squawking and flapping as he strode toward his Transfiguration professor's office.

Stepping into McGonagall's office, Dumbledore saw her looking toward the door in confusion. "Albus? Whatever is wrong with Mr. Potter's owl? I've never seen that bird making such a fuss." Standing and stepping around her desk, Minerva moved to get a better look.

"Ah, Minerva, it would seem that Mr. Potter's troubles the last year have caused him to distrust me for some reason, and his owl refuses to take a letter from me to him. I was hoping she might trust you enough to take a letter," Albus said, expertly faking a mixture of sorrow and grandfatherly concern.

"Oh," Minerva breathed incredulously. "Well, I can certainly try," she added as she turned back to the desk for quill and parchment.

"No need for that," Albus said, calling her attention back to him. "Here's the letter I prepared earlier." Albus missed the flicker of surprise and confusion on the Gryffindor Head of House's face as he extended the still fighting bird toward her, while trying not to get hit by the animal's powerful wings.

Stooping slightly, McGonagall took a closer look at the bird the Headmaster held. She frowned out the sight of the training jesses wrapped haphazardly around the owl's legs. "Albus, what in the world? No wonder she's fighting you so hard, these jesses are all twisted up! Why is she in them in the first place, anyway? She's a mail owl, not a falconry hawke!" she demanded as she dropped the letter on her desk, took the owl from his hand, and immediately started to untie the straps.

Albus tried to stop her, but as soon as Hedwig felt the straps come loose, she took to the air and made a bee line for the open window on the other side of the office. She barely dodged the blood red stunner that flew at the escaping bird as she passed through the portal and started winging her way east, toward the faint feeling that she knew was her master.

Minerva's surprise when Hedwig jerked herself out of her hand was nothing to the shock she felt when she saw the Headmaster start casting spells at the escaping avian. Jerking his wand down after he just barely missing stunning the owl as it flew out the window, she rounded on her superior shouting, her accent thickening in her outrage, "Wha' th' bloody 'ell do you thinking you'rre doin', Albus? A fall from 'erre'd kill any owl, if the stunnerr did kill 'err first! Wha's wrrong wi' you?"

Seeing the fire in the Highland woman's eyes, Albus worked hard to calm himself. McGonagall was one of his most important followers, but she was smart and he always had to be on his toes around her. "Forgive me, my dear. I've just been so concerned for Mr. Potter, and Hedwig seemed like the best possibility for finding him quickly and getting him back to safety that I wasn't thinking clearly. I shall return to my office and contemplate what other option are available." Albus gave her his best apologetic old man look as he turned and left her office, internally seething that she had allowed the owl to escape.

With the loss of the owl, the next best possibility would be Lupin. As much as he was loathe to let the werewolf anywhere near the brat, the beast did know the boy well. Besides Weasley and Granger, the former Defense professor probably knew the boy better than anyone else. The only problem with that was that the werewolf had disappeared several days ago.

Well, the ministries tracking protocols should be able to find him within a couple days, so it wasn't really too much of a problem. The only question then would be, who would he send to convince the werewolf he had to return to England? The last time Albus had seen him he had been told in no uncertain terms that Lupin did not want to see a member of the Order showing up on his door step, and many of the Order members still remember what had happened the last time they had ignored Remus warning.

McGonagall watched the Headmaster leave with a pursed expression on her face. While she was certainly anxious to find Harry, there was just something about the Headmaster's actions that was setting off warning bells in her head. It wasn't the first time in the last five years that those bells had gone off, usually preceding one of Mr. Potter's wild adventures.

Glancing at the letter that Dumbledore had been just a little too eager to have her send to their wayward student; she considered what she should do with it. Slowly drawing her wand, she decided to start with a simple detection charm. If there was nothing on the letter, she wouldn't have to worry, but if there was more to that letter than just words…

Casting the charm at the innocent looking parchment, she waited. After a few seconds, red and blue mist started rising from the envelope.

HPGWHPGWHPGW

The next day, Dumbledore was smiling as he stepped into his office after returning from the ministry. He had finally been able to track Remus to a medium sized city on the outskirts of Tokyo at one of the Potter's vacation homes. He felt slightly foolish for forgetting that James had given both Sirius and Remus access to any of the Potter vacation properties any time they wanted. That hadn't been rescinded after their deaths, so it did make sense. Last time he had tracked Remus down, he had been living hand-to-mouth doing odd jobs in America, but perhaps Remus had finally gotten over some of the pride that had stopped him from taking what he saw as charity from his friends.

Whatever the case, the Headmaster knew where he was, and it was time to go convince him to join the search. After some consideration, Albus decided to go himself; after all this wasn't about the Order at all. His 'honorary godson' was missing. How could he refuse to help?

HPGWHPGWHPGW

As Harry finished telling Heero about the few magical shopping districts he knew about, Heero placed the magical bad on the bed, pulled the suitcases back to the bed to start transferring his extra weapons from the suitcase into the bag. Looking into the bag, he was shocked to find it empty, looking at the dark-haired wizard in confusion, Heero pointed to the bag, "It's empty?"

Harry chuckled, "Stick your hand in it while thinking about getting a book. When you know the titles, you can think of the specific one you want. If you're not sure what's in the bag, just think you want to empty it, and it will keep giving you things until it is empty." Harry couldn't help but grin at the skeptical expression on Heero's face.

Glancing from the smiling teenager to the bag, Heero decided to give it a try. Sticking his hand into the bag, Heero thought about wanting a book about potions. It sounded like an interesting subject when Harry had described it last night, and since it didn't sound like it used a lot of active magic, it might be something he could figure out for himself if he could get the ingredients and supplies he needed. To his surprise, he felt a book fit into his hand. Heero pulled out his hand and found he was hold in a book titled, "Elixars and Brews for a Beginning Potions Student." It had to be something in the spells on the bag. Nodding his understanding and thanks, Heero returned the book to the bag and thought about getting a book on charms. This time the book he pulled out was called, "1001 Useful Charms for Everyday Life." Putting it back, he thought back to the first title he had pulled out, and sure enough when he pulled his hand out that was what he was holding.

Satisfied he put the book back again and started to transfer his backup weapons and extra ammunition to the magical bag. The suitcases were going to be picked up by a courier service tomorrow, but in all likelihood he would never see them again and J would replace the weapons when he arrived at his next destination. Still, it wouldn't hurt to have them as extra backups.

Realizing that Harry still being quiet, Heero glanced up to see the slightly older boy watching him with wide eyes as he move the multitude of guns, ammunition, and knives from the hard side suitcase to the leather bag.

Harry wasn't surprised when Heero pulled the first gun out of his suitcases and put it into the bottomless bag. He wasn't even all that surprised when a second gun appeared and joined the first, but by the time the fourth gun was about to disappear into the bespelled leather bag, Harry was having to work hard not to start gaping. Between the four guns, at least ten knives, and multiple clips of extra ammunition, Harry was sure Heero had enough weapons to last for a week in an all out assault. "What did you do? Raid the armory while we were at the marina?" Harry joked, hesitantly reaching toward the gun Heero was holding.

Heero didn't try to resist the tiny smile that Harry's joke brought to his face, but when the older boy slowly reached toward the 9mm he was holding, he paused. After a few seconds, he double checked again that the weapon was empty before gently set the weapon in his fr…friend's hands. Yes, Harry was very definitely his friend, training be damned!

Harry carefully brought the weapon Heero had hesitantly given him closer to look at it. Before the incident on the sub, the closest Harry had ever been to a gun had been the shotgun that Uncle Vernon had had in the cabin when they were running away from Harry's Hogwarts' letter, and even then, he hadn't been able to get a good look at it before Hagrid turned it into a pretzel. "This is one thing I wish I could learn," Harry said as he carefully turned the weapon around, looking at it from all angles. Handing it back, Harry saw the curiosity on Heero's face as he efficiently stashed the weapon in the bottomless bag, he explained, "The wizarding world relies almost entirely on magical combat, while a few archaic weapons like swords and knives might be used in rare cases. Firearms are entirely ignored."

Heero nodded his understand as he slowly closed the bags, double checking that everything he wanted to keep with him had been stowed in the bottomless bag. Damn it! If only he had had a few more weeks here, he could have at least taught him enough for it to be safe to leave him one of the extra weapons. As it was, Heero was afraid if he left one with him now, he might accidently shoot himself. It was blatantly obvious from the way he had handled the 9mm that he had never held a weapon like that in his life.

Glancing at the clock, Heero decided the party should be far enough along to head for the administration building. Turning to his guest, Heero said, "It's time for me to deal with the records."

Harry nodded, "I'll just stick around here. We'll head down and check in as 'present' when you get back. Why this stupid party is required attendance, I don't know," Harry huffed a little as he settle back in his chair and watched Heero slip out into the hall.

It only took a few minutes for Heero to take care of the computer system. A few key strokes and everything St. Gabriel's Institute ever had on Heero Yuy was wiped from their servers and hard drives. As standard procedure, Heero also left a computer virus that would completely crash the computers early tomorrow morning, making the data loss look accidental.

As he stealthily made his way back to his dorm, Heero wondered what he should do about the boy he been working with. Harry was in a boatload of trouble, and it seemed like the person that was interested in helping him resolve it was Lupin, and Lupin had trouble of his own. Maybe if they stayed here for a few more weeks, he could send something back to them that would help. He wasn't sure what, but surely he could find something.

Quietly opening the door to his room, Heero saw Harry look up and begin to speak, only to be cut off when something around his neck started to glow. Heero watched Harry's eyes widened in horror and fear as he shot to his feet and his hand jumped to his neck before the light pulsed once and died.

Heero and Harry remained frozen until the pilot heard Harry whisper, "They've found me."

****I thought about leaving it here, but then realized I might just get myself lynched!****

HPGWHPGWHPGW

_**Five minutes earlier**_

Remus was almost done rearranging the basement when he was interrupted by the doorbell.

Frowning, Remus climbed the steps, wondering who in the world that could be. Had Harry decided to come home early? When he had called earlier, he had said he planned to stay at the school with Heero until after the party was over since the other boy was having to leave tonight.

It took every acting ability Remus had ever had not to show the fear he felt for his cub when he opened the door only to be greeted by the twinkly-eyed visage of the man he had come to hate almost as much as Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore.

Adding as much tired resentment as he could to his voice, Remus asked, "What do you want, Dumbledore?"

"Ah, my boy, I know you wanted to get away for a while, but something has come up that I need you help with," Dumbledore said, when he saw Remus start to refuse, he hurried on, "This had nothing to do with the Order and everything to do with Harry."

While Remus wanted nothing more than to slam the door in the old codgers face, he had to find out what Dumbledore knew about Harry. Grudgingly, He opened the door wide and let the Headmaster in.

Heading to the study, Remus pushed his turmoil down. As soon as they arrived, Remus whirled and demanded, "What's wrong with Harry? Did someone come after him at Privet Drive again?"

"No, nothing like that, my dear Remus," Dumbledore said, trying to be reassuring, but he knew his next words would likely set off the werewolf entirely. One thing he had forgotten until just now as he was looking at the werewolf was the fact that full moon was tomorrow night. Remus was agitated already, and with Sirius recent death it wasn't surprising, but his amber eyes were already bleeding gold as the wolf rose closer to the surface. Too bad he need the wolf right now, otherwise it would be so easy to goad him into attacking, and Albus would have the perfect excuse to get him out of the way. Instead Albus readied his wand just in case he needed to cast a few quick shields. "I'm afraid Harry has left the safety of his relative's house and decided to do some travelling on his own. We need to find him quickly."

Remus eyes narrowed in anger, as his mind spun in panic. Mentally taking a step back, Remus quickly decided he couldn't let Harry come back to the house. It was too dangerous. Picking up a glass paperweight from the desk beside him, Remus turned and snarled at Dumbledore, "You mean he ran away! Why? What did they do to my cub?" Just like the time the Order needed a lesson in leaving him alone, Remus started throwing things at and around the irritant. Only this time, instead of just throwing whatever came to hand, Remus chose his first projectile, and target, very carefully. Rearing back, Remus hefted the pretty glass paperweight at the doorjamb above the Headmaster's head where it promptly shattered, scattering thousands of little pebbles of glass all over the manipulative old man.

While knowing the irritation the Headmaster would have to go through to get all the glass out of his hair, clothes, and beard was a balm to Remus jangled nerves, that shattered bauble would also warn Harry off. Remus just hoped he could buy him enough time to get out of the area. Their emergency plan called for them to meet back up in Sydney, but he could only hope that he could convince Dumbledore to let his search by himself, otherwise Harry would be running alone.

It was that thought that had Remus grab the next item off the desk and send it streaking after the first.

HPGWHPGWHPGW

At Harry's words, Heero exploded into motion. Darting forward so fast Harry thought for a moment he had apparated, Heero grabbed the bottomless bag and Harry's wrist and started for the door.

Harry stumbled at first, but quickly got his legs under him. After a few seconds, during which Heero neither spoke nor slowed, Harry started to speak, only for cold blue eyes to catch his gaze, quieting the words on his lips.

"You're coming with me."


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: **WOW! I've never gotten that many reviews on a single chapter before. A big thank you to everyone who reviewed. I wans't sure how well the idea was going to go over, but I think it is safe to say you enjoyed it. Also introducing my new beta, Barrel of Monkeys; any linguring errors are all my fault. Many thanks to everyone that volunteered to beta for me as well.

In celebration, here's a new chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 22**

Harry and Heero ran headlong down the hallways until they came to more populated areas. Slowing, the teenagers straightened their clothes, and then stepped out of the dorm as if there wasn't a thing wrong in the world.

Mimicking an animated conversation, Heero quietly informed his companion, "We're heading for the forest north of campus." Seeing Harry nod in understanding, Heero continued to lead the pair of them around edges of the party, trying not to draw anyone's attention.

They had made it about three-quarters of the way across the grounds, when Heero spotted an out of place sparkle in the night sky. Stopping, Heero stared at the anomaly trying to identify it.

"Heero?" Harry glanced nervously at his friend while trying to follow his line of sight.

It took only a moment for Heero to realize what he was seeing, an OZ suit carrier dropping its cargo. OZ had found him!

"OZ! They caught on to this place. Come on!" Heero said as he dashed for the trees and Wing, now not caring if someone noticed.

Harry followed, wondering what Heero had planned. Less than five minutes run into the forest, Harry nearly tripped over his own feet when Heero led him up to the largest mobile suit he had ever seen. Even reclining the primarily blue and white suit was very impressive- especially to a young man who had only ever seen mobile suits on the telly. After a half a second, Harry shook off his shock and followed Heero over to where he was scampering up the side of the torso.

Heero jumped down into the cockpit and pointed Harry to sit on the floor by his feet. "There are straps down there for emergency evacuations."

Harry quickly got into position and found the straps Heero had mentioned. It was a little hard to manoeuvre into them, since he was practically lying on his side, but by the time Heero started the large machine moving, Harry had gotten them connected.

Just as the Heero was getting the suit to its feet, Harry heard an explosion. Glancing up quickly, Harry saw one of the attacking suits had exploded. Grabbing the harness and the leather pack Heero had thrown on the floor on the other side to keeping it from flying about the cockpit, Harry watched the ensuing fight, both fascinated by the capabilities of the suit and its pilot and disgusted that the military would attack a school just to get at Heero. As Harry sat on the floorboards, trying to be as quiet as possible so that he didn't distract Heero, he watched Heero fight and realized that OZ was beginning to remind him a lot of Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Neither group cared who they killed as long as they got what they wanted.

Heero managed to blast one of the incoming suits before they had even seen him, but he knew the cannon was too dangerous for close combat, especially this close to a civilian installation. Thinking fast, he tapped the enemies' communications as he used Wing's helm guns to strafe them for a bit. When one of the Leos got close enough, Heero quickly drove forward, ramming it. Dropping his cannon, Heero quickly pulled his beam sabre and looked around for the remaining suits.

Seeing the second Leo close at hand, Heero stopped its attack by removing the suit's arm, before splitting the suit down the middle. He was about to turn to confront the remaining Aries suits when his sensors reported an incoming attack. Jumping Wing backward out of the line of fire, Heero had to brace Wing when he landed to avoid ending up in the middle of the school campus. Why were they driving him toward the campus? Shouldn't they be trying to keep him away from the campus? This didn't make any sense.

Hearing the enemy pilots comment about the manoeuvrability of Wing was gratifying, but he couldn't help retorting when one of the idiots announced it had to be flight capable. "It's too heavy, fool!" Of course that didn't mean he was incapable of jumping. Catching two of the Aries in one swing, Heero settled Wing back to earth, darting a glance at the second occupant of the cockpit.

Harry was craning his neck around to watch the forward view screen, a mixture of emotions darting across his face. Seeing Harry frown suddenly, Heero looked back at the view screen. Standing in the middle of the destruction of the St. Gabriel's courtyard was one girl. Refocusing the monitor, Heero and Harry were surprised to recognize Relena Darlian. What in the world was she doing just standing there in the middle of a battle? Was she trying to get herself killed?

Heero was distracted enough that the last remaining Aries managed to come up behind him and started firing. Wing jerked when the first shot struck its back, but the second shot missed, streaking passed and striking the side of the building.

Harry grunted at the unexpected impact, his eyes flying about the various screens. _How does Heero keep track of all of this?_ Harry wondered. Looking back at the main view screen, Harry yelped, "Heero! The tower!" as he saw the tower begin falling toward the single person still standing in the combat zone.

Without thinking, Heero lunged forward and rammed his shield into the ground at the base of the tower, creating a safe shelter for the foolish girl that was now staring up at the mobile suit above her.

"What the heck am I doing?" Heero muttered, ignoring the enemy pilot's incredulity at his actions. He had just endangered himself and his mission, and for what? To save a girl that was being an overly curious idiot?

"You were just proving you were still human, Heero," Harry said, startling the pilot, who had not realized he had been talking aloud. "You protected an innocent. I don't know what your trainers told you, but being human is what keeps you from becoming a monster that kills just for pleasure. Now how do we get her, and us, out of here?" Harry finished as Wing shook with more hits.

Heero nodded as he hastily flipped on the exterior speakers, "You idiot, this is a battle zone! Get out of here!" Flipping the speakers back off, Heero spun around and rammed the point of his shield into the Aries that had come up behind him. Checking his sensors for more incoming suits, Heero watched Relena stand slowly, still staring at the suit. Just as he was about to turn the speakers back on and yell at her again, she finally turned and ran for the main building where everyone else had disappeared when the battle first began.

After a few moments, Heero saw the suit carrier turn around and leave. Waiting a few more minutes to make sure it wasn't a feint of some sort, Heero stowed the beam sabre and retrieved his cannon. A fast system check revealed on very minor damage to Wing's outer plating, so Heero jumped Wing into the air and initiated the shift to flight mode.

"Wow," Harry murmured. Heero glanced down to find Harry looking thoughtful. "Heero, are you sure they were after you?"

Heero was surprised at the question, "Why else would they attack?"

Harry just shrugged and muttered, "Seems to me that it would have been a lot less trouble for them to just come to the school and arrest you, rather than launch an all out attack on a civilian facility. Unless they had some other purpose, that is."

The boys sat in silence for a few minutes as Heero thought over what Harry had said. "Perhaps you are correct," he finally admitted. "I will have to research what their purpose could have been more thoroughly."

"I'll help if I can," Harry offered. "So where are we headed now?"

Heero thought quickly. While his orders had said to leave the area, Dr. J had left his destination wide open, Heero quickly checked his options. Duo and the salvage vessel were probably still within flight range. It would give him a place to hide Wing easily. Flipping comm channels, Heero scanned for the frequency that J had set aside for secure communications. "Deathscythe, this is Wing. I'm on emergency evacuation from my current location, can you accommodate?"

Harry frowned in confusion and trepidation. Deathscythe? Who or what was that? The name didn't sound reassuring. "I take it that is a code name?" Harry asked as they waited. Seeing Heero's nod, he continued, "So what is your code name?"

Seeing the honest curiosity on Harry's face, Heero figured if he had seen this much, it couldn't do any harm. "Heero Yuy is my code name. I pilot the Gundam Wing. Duo pilots the Gundam Deathscythe."

Harry nodded his understanding just as the comm crackled and a cheerful voice spoke, "Hey, Wing, didn't expect to be hearing from you so soon. Sure, we have room to accommodate, coordinates transmitting on the carrier wave. Why don't you give me a sit rep?"

Heero breathed a silent sigh of relief. He planned to head west for a while, but with the attack on the school, he couldn't be sure that plan hadn't been compromised. Plus, he had planned for one person, not two. "At 2000 hours last night, J ordered 48evac. Tonight, while attempting to leave the grounds with companion, Wing spotted incoming hostiles. All enemies destroyed in the ensuing battle, but there is the possibility that previous plans have been compromised. We need a place to lie low for a while and make plans." Heero glanced down to see Harry smiling at him and mouth 'Thank you' at him. Heero nodded and his lips twitched in an approximation of a smile.

"Companion?" there was confusion in the voice that returned over the comm.

"Affirmative. You've met already," Heero said as he plotted a fly path to the coordinates he had received.

"Oh, him. Gotcha. ETA?" Duo said.

Glancing at his instruments, Heero said, "ETA, twelve minutes."

"See you then, Wing."

HPGWHPGWHPGW

A hair over ten minutes later, Heero gently settled Wing on the deck of the large salvage vessel. Activating the hatch, Heero waited for Harry to scramble out, still hugging the bag to his chest, before dropping out of the cockpit himself. Heero stepped up and pulled the bag from his grip, while glancing over the older boy to make sure he was all right.

"Heero! You made good time," Duo said as he bounced over to the other Gundam pilot. Turning to the black-haired teenager that had accompanied him, Duo extended his hand. "Hi, I'm Duo Maxwell. I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie. I pilot Gundam Deathscythe."

After a momentary debate with himself, Harry shook the offered hand. "Harry Potter, formerly Evan Jamieson of St. Gabriel's Institute, attached to Heero Yuy, pilot of Gundam Wing."

Duo cocked his head in confusion. This guy didn't look any older they were, so why was he 'attached' to one of the pilots? Was he a backup in case something happened to Heero?

Seeing the blatant curiosity of the longhaired teenager's face, Harry continued, "It's complicated, and this is a little too public to explain."

Duo nodded in understanding. "Sure. Well, let's get your Gundam undercover, then we can go talk for a while."

It only took fifteen minutes to move the newly arrived mobile suit into the hanger portion of the ship; then Duo led them below decks to a room with two sets of bunks. The room was quite neat, despite the pieces of disassembled machinery scattered around the worktable at one end of the room. Closing the door, Duo turned to his guests and said, "So what is going on? Who are you?" Duo directed the last question specifically at Harry.

Glancing at Heero, Harry started to explain how they had met and how he had ended up coming with Heero on their flight from St. Gabriel's, though leaving out any mention of magic. The explanation didn't take too long, but Harry could tell Duo still had questions at the end. Sighing internally, Harry wondered what he should do. Whatever he said, Duo seemed bright enough to see the holes in the story; and according to the law, he couldn't tell him anything more.

"There's more to it than that, isn't there?" Duo asked after Harry finished.

Harry visibly winced. This is one time he would have happily been wrong. Now what?

"It's classified, Duo. Unless you are involved directly, we are forbidden from telling you," Heero stated, his expression not changing one iota.

Duo eyed them both, then shrugged good naturedly. "'Kay. I can buy that. You'll be bunking in here with me, so you might as well claim which bed you want. Bottom one the left is mine, the others are empty, though. What did you guys manage to bring with you?"

Harry ducked his head a little embarrassed, but Heero answered as he hefted the bag, bringing Duo's attention to the ordinary seeming leather backpack, "Backup weaponry and some research materials only." Walking over to the right hand bunks, Heero dropped the bag on the floor and glanced back at Harry with an eyebrow raised. Harry grinned and hopped up on the top bunk in answer.

Duo chuckled for a moment, "Right. Well I've got some extra stuff you can borrow for the next couple days. We're due to dock in Melbourne Sunday morning, so you should be able to pick up some stuff then." As Duo continued to chatter on about what to expect in the next few days, he pulled sweats out and handed a set to each of his new roommates.

Watching Duo bounce around the room, Heero wondered what it would be like if they were allowed to work together on this mission. It wouldn't be dull, that was for sure. Unbeknown to him, his third roommate was thinking more or less the same thing as he sat on the top bunk smiling at the energetic brunette.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: **Urg, sorry it's been so long since the last update. My new job has kept me busy the last couple of months, but things are slowing down now. This is rather short, and not as good as I wanted it, but it's better than nothing right?

Hope you enjoy, and many thanks to all my reviewers :)

* * *

**Chapter 23**

After half an hour of shouting and throwing breakables, Remus finally, grudgingly, agreed to meet Albus at Grimmauld Place in two days to 'catch up on what the Order of the Phoenix knew about Harry's disappearance.' Two days, one for the full moon and one to recover, officially. In reality, Remus wanted time to figure out what he should say, if anything, to throw the Order off Harry's trail.

Leaning back against the door after tossing the Headmaster out, Remus groaned. Damn the ministry and their bloody werewolf registration. Thanks to their stupid regulations and scrutiny, Remus had been forced to go by his real name, letting Dumbledore track him down in virtually no time.

He and Harry had been hoping that after a couple of months, they could slip out of Japan and leave the name Remus Lupin behind. It should have worked, since there had been no reason for anyone to realize Harry was missing before September 1, thanks to the no contact policy Dumbledore had issued again this summer. How had they found out? Had Dumbledore decided to go ahead and place guards on the house again after stating they were unnecessary to the Order just a couple weeks ago?

Whatever the case, instead of following their plans, Remus was headed back to England. He could only hope that he would be able to do some good keeping those searching for Harry chasing their tails and far away from Harry.

Heaving a deep breath, Remus turn away from the door and headed back to the basement to finish his preparations. Whatever the situation, he still did not want to endanger anyone living around the area. As he drew his wand and started removing the last of the storage boxes, Remus mused that this was probably the first time in his life that he was thankful to be a werewolf.

He knew Dumbledore would probably have tried to use his legimency on him if he had not already known that it was useless. A werewolf's mental shields were one of the smattering of benefits to their condition, and high emotions strengthen those barrier, rather than degrade them like with a occlumense. If not, this charade would have been over before it really started.

* * *

Saturday morning found Harry jerked out of a deep sleep at the sound of someone moving around in the room. Jerking upright, he instinctively grabbed his glasses and reached for his wand, before abruptly remembering the events of the night before.

Seeing the curious expression on his new roommate's face as he finished tying off his braid, Harry chuckled nervously, slipping the partially exposed wand back under his pillow while fervently hoping Duo hadn't gotten a good look at it. "Sorry," he said sheepishly, "I kind of forgot where I was for a second."

"Hey, no problem, man," Duo waved off the apology, shrugging good-naturedly, "I know how it is. Believe me."

Glancing over the side of the bed, Harry found Heero had surprisingly not moved, seemingly still asleep despite the voices in the room. Thinking about it for a moment, Harry would have bet that Heero was only playing possum, observing how Harry and Duo interacted. Either way, there was no way Harry was going to be able to get back to sleep after that wake up call, so he slipped over the side of the bunk beds and dropped lightly to the floor. "So, why are you up at," Harry glanced at the clock then winced, "5:30 in the morning, Duo?" Harry asked as the long haired pilot pulled on his boots.

"I've got somethings to check out on my suit, and a couple of the fellas want me to help out with a project they've been working on. You have any plans for the day?" Duo answered.

Harry shrugged, "I'm not sure what Heero has planned, though I'm pretty sure he wants to check to see if he really was really compromised last night. The attack on the school didn't make a lot of sense to me, though."

Duo looked at the British teen in curiosity. "How so?" Seeing the other teen was giving the clothes he had been wearing the night before a disgusted look, Duo grinned and tossed him an extra t-shirt and a pair of sweats from one of the drawers.

Harry nodded in thanks as he started changing, explaining his reasoning as he went along. "Why would they openly attack the school in the middle of a highly publicized evening function just to get at Heero? With the number of high profile students at the school? No matter what their justification, they'd would end up getting blasted for that. They were taking the chance of killing the children of several important government officials for the sake of catching one rebel pilot and in the process losing any chance of getting information from him. I'd think they would want to take him into custody first to see if they could get information on the rebels from him. It just doesn't make any sense to me."

"You're right that doesn't make sense," Duo frowned. "You have any ideas what they might have been after?"

Harry finished pulling in the t-shirt before answering. "Not exactly, but judging by my experiences back home, I'd bet they were going to try to blame it on the rebels and you guys in someway no matter what their original target was. Especially considering what happened to R..." Harry trailed off, thinking of the news report regarding 'rebel activity' in the colonies.

"Potter?" Heero's slightly raspy voice broke the silence that had fallen.

Harry jerked out of his thoughts. Looking at the bottom bunk, he fond Heero staring directly at him, a tinge of concern in his eyes, though his face was impassive as usual. "Relena," he said, "what if she saw something that OZ wants hushed up? She was on that trip with her father when he was killed. If she saw something that could tie them to his death, they might have come after her at the school to keep her quiet. That stupid party was required attendance, she had to be there and they knew it!"

"You mean Vice Foreign Minister Darlian's daughter? That...does make sense," Duo said slowly, thinking through all that Harry had said. Both Harry and Duo watched as Heero quickly got up and pulled out his laptop, and started researching. After another minute or two, Duo turned back to the only non-pilot in the room, "I think having you around is going to come in handy. You put things together fast."

Harry ducked his head, uncomfortable at the praise and remembering a time not long ago when he hadn't put things together fast enough. "Thanks. Just want to help."

"So, Potter," Duo started, only to have Harry cut him off.

"Call me Harry, please. I can't take the chance of someone overhearing that name," Harry quickly explained.

Duo nodded, his customary grin firmly in place, "Sure, Harry. So what did you have planned for today?"

"Umm," Harry hedged, "If Heero has time later, we need to go over some information for training."

Without looking up from his search, Heero stated flatly, "Training begins at 0800."

Both glanced at the tossle-haired pilot for a moment, but Harry had to smile a little in excitement. He was not sure why, but the idea of being able to help Heero survive this war was almost as exciting at the thought of getting trained to survive his own battles.

Duo's grin widened as he looked back at Harry, "In that case, what say we get some breakfast, since something tells me you probably missed dinner last night."

Right on queue, Harry's stomach growled, reminding the young wizard of exactly that fact. Blushing, Harry nodded and followed the braided boy out of the room and toward the mess hall.

* * *

After a very filling breakfast, Duo found a crewman to take Harry on a fast tour of the vessel he found himself on. Harry followed the crewman through the various parts of the ship, though he wasn't sure he would have been able to find his way back to half of the places they visited since the ship had to have more hallways than Hogwarts, and they all looked the same to him. At least at Hogwarts there were different paintings and statues to give a hint as to where you were. Indeed many of the paintings were more than willing to point lost firsties in the right direction if they asked. Here you better hope you ran across a helpful crewman, or just keep wandering.

Harry breathed a slight sigh of relief when the tour ended back at the mess hall and after bidding his temporary tour guide farewell, and not being sure of the time, Harry headed back to the room he was sharing with the two Gundam pilots. It was a strange boat to Harry, but then his experience with boats was rather limited. The old man Howard that owned and operated the vessel reminded him of a more genuine, but just as eccentric, Albus Dumbledore. The older, semi-bald man seemed to genuinely care about Duo. While Harry was not fully confident in his ability to judge people anymore, he found himself liking the flamboyant muggle sailor.

Quietly opening the door to their room, Harry found Heero still typing away at his computer. Glancing at the clock above the makeshift desk, Harry found there still nearly a hour before Heero said training would start. After a brief consideration of leaving Heero to his research and coming back later, Heero decided it would be better if he stuck around and figured out what he was going to be able to teach Heero right now. Snagging the bag from the floor, Harry start reviewing exactly which books Remus had sent. He had taken a quick look at the titles yesterday, but he wasn't quite sure where he should start.

Without a wand or proper supplies, what he could teach Heero was limited. Added to that was the fact they were in the middle of the bloody ocean on a ship that contained a nearly a hundred muggles! Yeah, the statute of secrecy was going to get bent whatever way you look at it. Still, it was only a day until they docked in Melbourne, and he should be able to get them from Melbourne to Sydney without too much trouble. If nothing else, he had a bit of muggle money with him. True it was Japanese currency, but a fast trip to a bank should fix that. He and Remus had already gone over the location of the magical areas and what wards were on the house. Heero and Harry would be able to train in peace once they got there.

And hopefully Remus would be able to catch up with him and tell him what in the world had happened!


	24. Chapter 24

As she listened to the Headmaster announce that Remus would be arriving in a couple days, Minerva could not shake the uneasy feeling she had been wrestling with for the last day. After discovering the presents of spells on the letter Albus had wanted her to send, Minerva had used a more specific revealing charm to find out what they were. The results had shocked and worried her.

The first had been a standard tracking charm on the parchment set to activate when the letter was opened. All perfectly normal and understandable. The second spell, however, had been anything but. The second spell had been an entrapment curse that bordered on the dark arts. It was legal only for use by Aurors to use on escaping violent prisoners. The spell prevented the victim from moving and any attempt was met with a burst of pain. Many a dark wizard had used the curse as a means of torture.

And Albus intended to use it on a fifteen year old student?

There was something wrong here and Minerva had had enough. She had objected every year to the situations Albus had put Harry and the rest of the school through.

Why had he brought the Philosopher's Stone to Hogwarts in the first place? The Flamel's had been perfectly successful guarding the stone from all comers for over 500 years. It wasn't as if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had been the first Dark Lord with delusions of immortality in all that time.

The fiasco of Harry's second year might not have been entirely Headmaster Dumbledore's fault, but looking back, she was sure that the castle wards should have warned him that such a dark artifact that had been brought into the castle. Either he had ignored it, or the wards had degraded farther that she had ever thought possible. Minerva wasn't sure which possibility was worse. Dumbledore had not mentioned anything about strengthening the wards since then, let alone actually done anything. Therefore he had either ignored the problem then or was ignoring the problems with the wards now. In either case, he was endangering all of their students with his indifference.

Minerva scowled as she though about the next year and the dementors that swarmed all over the grounds of the school. All it would have taken to get the dementors pulled back would have been a few words with some of the parents that worked at the ministry after their unauthorised entry of the Hogwarts Express. Their orders had been to patrol the outlying areas of the school grounds, not to enter and search the train. In fact, Minerva realized with a start, why were they near the train at all? They had been ordered to patrol Hogwarts grounds, not the train tracks leading to Hogsmeade some fifteen miles away! They certainly weren't following the orders given them by the minster, so who's orders had they been following?

Minerva scowled even harder as she thought of the catastrophe that was the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Shaking her head Minerva decided it wouldn't do any good to review her grievances regarding that as it would only make her lose her temper. The same with last year. While she was mostly recovered from her injuries, now she was beginning to suspect that the Headmaster had known more that he let on about the whole situation. What she could not figure out was what motive he could have.

Now with Harry gone and Hedwig's distrust of the old wizard blatantly obvious, Minerva was not liking the conclusions she was coming to in regards to his actions toward the young man. Her discoveries about that letter he wanted her to send just cemented it.

But in that case, what should she do about it? She was still recovering, and while she was no slouch as a witch, Dumbledore wasn't called the strong wizard of his age for nothing. Looking around the table, Minerva contemplated who she should talk to about her suspicions.

Severus? Yes, while she and the potions master might be rivals as Heads of House, she trusted his judgement. His coldly logical mind would be able to point out any flaws in her deductions, and as a spy he could be counted on to keep his mouth shut when it was needed.

Who else...most of the other teachers, while competent in their own fields, were not people she would call subtle or skilled in subterfuge. Both she and Severus had fought in the last war; they both new that the person you thought was your best friend today could turn out to be your worst enemy tomorrow. They had seen it happen too many times during You-Know-Who's first rise. The only other of the teachers that had fought with them at that time was Filius. Turning slightly, Minerva surreptitiously observed the Charms professor. Yes, the former dueling champion would understand, even if it turn out she was all wrong.

Finishing her dinner, Minerva casually made her way to each of the teachers she had decided on and asked them to meet her in her classroom later in the evening. Both agreed, though Severus grumbled about it, and Minerva went on her way, deftly side stepping Albus with a word about working on lessons for next year.

Two hours later, Minerva entered her classroom and waited for the arrival of her fellow teachers. Less than ten minutes later, Filius and Severus entered the room.

"What is this about, McGonagall?" Severus demanded after he closed the door.

Instead of answering immediately, Minerva took a moment to hit the door with locking and privacy spells first. Once she was finished, she turned to face the now openly curious professors and said, "I have reason to believe that one of the staff means to harm Mr. Potter." Seeing the displease scowl overcoming the potions master's face, she raised a hand slightly. "Allow me to finish, please, Severus. I was given that letter," she pointed to the letter Dumbledore had left with her, "to post to Mr. Potter yesterday. The person that gave it to me was most insistent that it had to be that letter, and no other would do. After first, I was not suspicious, but afterward I checked and found that the parchment contains both a tracking charm and the _Insum Dolens _curse."

Severus snapped his mouth shut immediately at hearing what spells the parchment had contained. Having been a victim of a malicious Auror (who was later dismissed from the corp for abuse of power) using that curse, he could honestly say he would never wish it on the boy, even as much as he disliked the arrogant little brat. Hell, he wouldn't even really wish it on Black. The curse could make the very act of breathing a study in agony.

Filius, for all his light-hearted and cheerful attitude, looked ready to do damage. "Who in Morgana's name would use that curse on a child?" he demanded.

Minerva bit her lip for a moment, before saying quietly, "Headmaster Dumbledore."

There was stunned silence for the space of three minutes, before Severus found his voice. "Are you out of your mind? The Headmaster has pampered that little brat from the first day he walked into this castle. Why would he want to harm his precious Golden Boy?" Severus exploded, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"I don't know, Severus," Minerva admitted, then explained everything that had happened when Dumbledore brought Hedwig to her office the day before.

Again silence filled the room, this time to be broken by Filius. Without saying a word to either of his companions, the Charms professor turned to the damning letter and cast _origo revelio _on it. After a moment, a miniature portrait of Dumbledore hovered over the parchment for a few second before dissipating.

"Filius, how well did Potter perform in your lessons last year?" Severus suddenly asked, trying to understand what he had learned.

Casting a confused glance at the much taller man, he replied, "Mr. Potter is a excellent charms student. Not on his mother's level perhaps, but still quite good with them. If he put a bit more effort into his attempts, I'm sure he could have taken first place in his year from Miss Granger easily."

A strange expression flit across Severus face as he asked, "So you had no need for...remedial lessons with him?"

"Certainly not," Filius denied. "Mr. Potter routinely gets O's and E's on his charms assignments. I'm quite expect he will have gained an O on his OWLs, too."

"Severus?" Minerva asked, seeing that strange expression flit across the black-haired man's face.

Pulling his face into its usual implacable expression, Severus waved her off, "I need to consider what you've said. It would seem as if the Headmaster is not as light as we thought. If we could meet to my rooms tomorrow afternoon, I will think on what I know tonight and see if I can make any sense of it."

Getting their nods of agreement, Severus swiftly took down the spells Minerva had placed on the door, and the three of them went on their way.

* * *

After leaving McGonagall and Flitwick, Severus headed for his quarters in the dungeon to think.

Pouring himself a drink, he sat in his favorite armchair, troubled about what he had discovered.

According to Filius, Potter had not been having any extra lessons with him last year, yet according to what the Headmaster had told him Filius had acted as the boy's Second Tier Occlumense instructor after Lupin finished instructing him in First Tier meditation over the summer. Combined with the spells on the letter, confirmed as cast by Dumbledore, the knowledge did not set well with the potions master. A bitter burn started in the pit of Severus' stomach as he contemplated what this could mean.

As he sipped his drink, Severus could not shake the feeling that maybe Potter's dismal performance in their special lessons had not been from lack of effort on his part but from lack of instruction. In fact, the longer he mentally reviewed their lessons; the more sure he became of it, noting small signs that he should have caught within the first few weeks, but instead he had let his anger blind him.

Instead he had attacked the boy's mind like a battering ram, causing who knew how much damage to the boy's unprotected psyche. Gulping down the rest of his drink, Severus could only hope that the damage was repairable.

Remembering the Headmaster's announcement about Lupin's imminent arrival, Snape decided to ask the wolf about their supposed meditation lessons. If what he feared was true, then the Headmaster truly was a monster that was engineering a boy's death. The only question would be why.

* * *

Forty-five minutes after Harry rejoined him, Heero was done with his research, but instead of setting his computer aside, Heero used it as a cover to watch his new friend without his knowledge. Watching the young wizard from the corner of his idea, Heero quickly ran through what areas he would need to concentrate his training on first.

Physically, Harry appeared to be in pretty good shape, but Heero would need to test his reaction times and strength before deciding on a training regimen. Weapon skills were a definite must as demonstrated by Harry extreme ignorance the night before. What else? If there was enough time, Heero considered training Harry to pilot one of the Gundams, but wasn't sure what they could do for an extra suit. Considering their current location, Heero decided to start with weapons training, and they could worry about the rest of it later.

Shutting the lid to his laptop, Heero turned to his soon-to-be student.

After a few moments of silence, Harry started to speak. "Heero, considering that we don't have a wand for you or any other supplies, I can't start teaching you much of anything until we get to Australia. Melbourne isn't too far from Sydney, so we should be able to get you some supplies there. The house is warded against muggles, so we should be able to work there in privacy."

Heero nodded in understanding and acceptance. He had been expecting something like that, since Harry had stressed the necessity of a wand for doing magic. "You're location in Sydney is not known to OZ?" Heero confirmed.

Harry shook his head, "The house is warded against muggles taking too close a look at it or any of its residents. As far as the authorities are concerned it is just a vacation house that hasn't been used in the last decade or so. If anyone does come around asking questions, I'm an emancipated minor. We could just pass you off as a friend or employee, if necessary."

Heero quirked an eyebrow as he thought about the fact that Harry owned two houses in two different countries, and possibly a third, since the boy had lived in England for the first fifteen years of his life. While his research at St. Gabriel had revealed the boy had to be wealthy, he found himself curious as to just how wealthy he was and were it had come from. "You seem to own a lot of property," Heero observed. Seeming the unsettled expression cross Harry's face, he continued, "Does it have anything to do with those rings you started wearing after your trip to Tokyo?"

Harry's hand jumped to the chain around his neck which now held his three family rings as well as the locket portkey. The rings had been added last night when Harry got ready for bed. He was not that surprised Heero had noticed them, but he was surprised at how fast Heero had apparently seen through the spell placed over them. "Yeah. I found out most of it on Wednesday. I knew about of a couple of place before, since Remus did, but there was a lot more that he hadn't know about. I've got a lot of place around the globe were we can hide if we need to. I need to go to the bank as soon as possible too, since there are so things I left behind that I hope Gringotts might be able to retrieve for us."

Heero nodded his understanding before asking, "Why three rings?"

Harry pulled the chain off and held up each ring as he spoke, "I'm the head of three families. Potter from my father directly, Peverell from my grandmother through my father, and Black from my godfather. Technically speaking I am Lord Potter-Peverell-Black. If I wanted to I could combine them all into one ring, but seemed like it would be disrespectful to my grandmother and Sirius, so I didn't."

"A rich young lord and his bodyguard will be a good cover, if it is needed," Heero stated, then he stood and pulled a automatic pistol and some extra ammunition out. "However, you still should have some idea of how to handle a weapon. We will start your training with weapons safety today, then continue with weapons and physical training when we reach your safehouse."

Harry smiled a little as he agreed, "Sure. Thanks Heero."

Heero ignored Harry's expression of gratitude as he started to lecture Harry on the proper way to handle fire arms. "There are two foundational rules to handling guns. First treat any gun as if it is loaded, even if you have checked it youself. Second, never point a gun at anyone unless you fully intend to shoot them..."

* * *

**Spells Index **(in the order introduced in the story)

_Insum Dolens - _lit. contain painfully - Freezes the victim in place and makes any movement, even breathing deeply, very painful

_Origo_ _Revelio _- lit. reveal orgin/source - varient of the standard _revelio_ that shows the person that cast the spell or imbued the magic within an item. Note: not to be used on magical beings as the spell will often confuse the magic of the person for the magic cast on them.


	25. Chapter 25

Urg, been a long time, but I' still alive out here. Life's been crazy and I still can't seem to write anything I'm happy with for chapter 26, so I've put one of the major problems to a poll. Go vote and may be you can stop some of the infighting among my muses. Here's the edited version of chapter 25, added a few more details, and fixed a few problems, but hasn't really changed a lot. Many, many thanks to everyone that had favorited and reviewed this story.

* * *

**Chapter 25**

Four hours later found Harry's mind whirling in an overload of new information. How to hold a gun. How to aim a gun. How to clean a gun after it was fired. How to load and unload ammunition for the gun. Heero covered everything except how to actually fire the thing.

"What's next?" Harry asked when Heero pronounced his loading and unloading of the clip to be acceptable.

Heero picked up the demonstration materials as he answered, "It would be wise to wait until we reach your safe house to have you practice firing. For now, it's lunch."

Startled, Harry glanced at the clock to see that it was indeed almost noon. Remembering that Heero had skipped breakfast this morning and dinner last night, he realized that the younger boy must be starving. "You must be starving, Heero! Come on," Harry exclaimed as he lightly grasped Heero's wrist and started to pull him out of the room toward the mess hall.

Heero again had to repress his instinctive reaction to pull away from Harry's grasp, but he couldn't help but smile just a little at the black-haired teen's obvious concern. They had almost made it to the mess hall when Harry rounded a corner and ran square into Duo, sending them both to the floor. Thankfully he managed to release his grip on Heero before he pulled him down too.

"Oh, damn! I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you okay?" Harry apologized as he scrambled back to his feet and extended his hand to help the black clad brunette up.

"Hey, no problem. I wasn't payin' attention either. I was just comin' to see if you guys wanted lunch," Duo said with a smile, waving away Harry's apology.

Harry chuckled slightly as he replied, "That's where we were headed, actually. You want to eat with us?"

"Sure," Duo chirped as he fell into step beside them as the continued toward the mess hall.

Heero maintained his silence as the three walked into the mess hall and got their lunch, just observing his companions. Harry and Duo were very different, and yet Heero was starting to see several similarities between them. Both were soldiers as he was, but they had somehow managed to retain a bit of innocence and enthusiasm that he had lost years ago. It fascinated Heero at the same time that it puzzled him. How had they been able to do that? Especially Harry. While Doctor J and Professor G had trained him and Duo, Heero knew that their intentions toward them, while not exactly caring, hinged on their survival. They wanted them to live. But Harry… his 'trainer,' for lack of a better word, had been actively engineering his death. How had he managed to accept that knowledge and still retain his positive outlook and caring spirit? It was a mystery to Heero, but one that he was thankful for.

After they finished eating, Duo sat back and sighed in contentment. "That really hit the spot. So what are you plannin' after we hit Melbourne. We're only scheduled to dock for a day and a half. You plannin' to stay on?"

Heero shot a quick glance at Harry, but fielded the question himself. "We have a safe house near Sydney. We'll be heading there for the time being."

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "We'll head into Melbourne and pick up a few things in the morning, then come back and get… our things tomorrow night."

Duo nodded his understanding and assured them that they were staying in Melbourne so it would be no problem for them to come back for their stuff. After a few moments, they broke up and went their own ways, Heero telling Harry that they would meet on the deck to evaluate Harry's physical condition in half an hour. Watching the other two teenagers leave, Duo wondered what was going on. He hadn't forgotten what had happened at the Marina the other night, and his curiosity was eating him alive.

* * *

Heading out onto the deck after lunch, Heero continued Harry's training by evaluating his physical condition.

Pointing to some boxes of supplies that were stacked off to the side, Heero said, "How many of those do you think you could lift?"

Harry frowned slightly as he walked over and tested the weight of the indicated boxes. Finding the small boxes weighed about twenty pounds each, he said, "Four or five easily, maybe a couple more if I don't have to go too far." Heero almost sighed, but still by civilian standards that wasn't too bad. It was going to take a while to bring him up to Heero's standards, of course, but at least there was already a bit of a foundation to start from.

Spotting an open section of the deck, Heero marched over, waving for Harry to follow him. "How much hand-to-hand training have you had?" Heero demanded as he abruptly turned.

Harry stopped short, but shook his head, "None. Wi…er our people are rather old fashioned, but they frown on physical confrontations as uncivilized and barbaric."

Heero worked hard to suppress the grimace at Harry's answer. Damn it. "Perhaps, but hand-to-hand skills can easily be translated into other types of fighting. For the moment, though, I need to test your reflexes. Dodge." With that, Heero launched a very slow punch toward the other teen's face.

"What…?" Harry exclaimed as he swiftly moved to the side, letting Heero fist pass harmlessly by. Seeing a small smile flicker across the pilot's face, Harry couldn't help the answering smile that crossed his face as he got ready to dodge more blows. As the 'evaluation' continued, Harry was surprised when Heero started adding kicks as well, moving faster as he did so.

Twenty minutes later, Harry was getting very tired and eventually lost his footing on the deck of the ship. Seeing Harry land hard on the deck, Heero dropped his fighting stance and instead reached down to help the panting boy to his feet. Heero was actually rather impressed; Harry's reflexes were excellent, though his stamina was going to need work. Heero had been moving at almost two third of his full speed and hadn't landed a blow on the older boy. Handing Harry a bottle of water, Heero let him rest for a while as he devised the next test for his vic…er student.

When it came time for the three teenagers to head for their bunks, Heero still hadn't decided exactly what forms Harry's physical training regimen should take. Glancing at the other two occupants of the room, Heero sighed quietly and pulled the blanket over his shoulder. He had no idea what kind of equipment he was going to have to work with, so he was just going to have to try different methods until he found one that worked well.

* * *

Several hours later, Heero was brought to instant alertness. Remaining perfectly still, Heero pretended to still be asleep, much as he had when Duo and Harry had been talking the previous morning. Listening carefully, Heero could just barely make pout the sound of muffled groaning coming from the top bunk. Frowning, Heero stood from his bunk and peered up at the British teenager on the top berth. Harry was still asleep, groaning quietly and his brow furrowed.

Nightmares, then.

Heero repressed a sigh. With what Harry had told him about his life and what he had discovered himself, he wasn't really surprised. It would have been more of a surprise if he didn't have nightmares at least occasionally. Unfortunately, there wasn't really much he could do about it.

Shaking his head, Heero was about to climb back into his bunk to get some more sleep when Harry suddenly cried out, "No!" and threw himself away from whatever it was he was seeing in his dreams. Which sent him over the side of the bunk toward the floor, and Heero barely managed to catch him around the chest to keep him from hitting his head. Harry, still firmly gripped by the nightmare, writhed in his grasp as he tried to get away. "Let me go, Remus, please! Sirius!"

"Po…Harry, It's me, Heero. Wake up!" Heero wasn't sure exactly how to react, but he knew he had to wake the boy up fast. Heero continued to talk and shake Harry's shoulders as Duo came over, confusion obvious on his face. It only took a couple moments for Harry to come out of the dream, but seemed like hours to Heero. When the rigid body in his arms finally collapsed, Heero pulled him over to sit on the side of his bunk and let him pull away while keeping a steadying hand on his back.

"Hey, man, you all right?" Duo said, taking a seat on Harry's opposite side from Heero.

Shaking off the after effects of the nightmare, Harry buried his face in his hands, elbows propped on his knees. "Yeah, I'm fine," he assured Duo, his voice muffled in his hands. After another two deep breaths, Harry looked up at the pilots flanking him and gave a tiny smile.

Duo looked surprised that the black-haired teen was able to shake off the nightmare this fast. It had taken him years, as well as some rather unpleasant training from Professor G, to be able to do that. Glancing at Heero, he found the normally stoic pilot frowning slightly. As different as these two seemed to be, it was obvious to Duo that they developed a very close friendship. "You goin' to be okay?"

Harry shivered slightly as he remembered the nightmare. Seeing Sirius fall through the veil again had not been Harry's idea of fun, but at least it had broken the seemingly endless cycle of listening to Dumbledore and Mrs. Weasley's betrayal. "I'm sorry. I didn't think. I have p…medicine that helps with the nightmares, but it got left behind. Yesterday I was so exhausted that I slept soundly and didn't think to warn you last night. I'm sorry I woke you up."

Duo shrugged and smiled wryly, "No problem, Harry. It's not like I don't have my share of nightmares and bad memories. Think you can get back to sleep?"

Harry glanced up at the clock. It was only just after 3 o'clock in the morning. "Yeah, but…"

"Okay, then," Duo interrupted him as he started to steer him toward the second bottom bunk across the way. "Let's get you into bed. If you have another nightmare, Heero might not be there to catch you, if you come of the bunk again, so you should use this one. I'll take the top bunk."

"But that's yours," Harry protested. "I don't want to cause any trouble."

"Doesn't make much difference to me really. You just get some more sleep," Duo said as he nimbly climbed up the end of the bunks.

Ten minutes later found all three of the teens in bed and slipping back into the realm of dreams. As Duo lay there thinking about what had happened, he wondered what the other boy had seen in that nightmare. He was almost positive he had seen tears in the British boy's eyes after he finally came around. Duo wondered who Remus and Sirius were, as it was obvious that they meant a great deal to him. The mysteries were just piling up around the new boy, and Duo wasn't one to leave a mystery unsolved for long.

* * *

Contrary to what Harry feared, he didn't have any more nightmares during the night. The next morning found all three youths fairly well rested and alert.

"We should head for the bank first," Harry said quietly, after Duo left for breakfast. "I need to get a… _key_ to the house." Heero wasn't sure why Harry emphasized the need for a key to the property, but nodded his understanding and acceptance.

Duo, who had stopped just outside the door, wondered why the two would need to go to a bank before going to their safe house. For that matter, why were they going to the city at all before heading to the safe house? Wouldn't it be better to get settled in there, and then head to the city to get necessities? With how paranoid Heero had been about Duo leaving a paper trail, why was he going to a bank to practically announce to the world where he was? Duo just didn't get it. Curiosity and suspicion growing, Duo decided that a little covert observation would be wise.

* * *

After leaving the ship, Heero and Harry, or more specifically Harry, started looking around to find a likely wizard to help them find the local magical district. After an hour or so, Harry hit the jackpot and they were on their way. Heero and Harry soon found themselves talking to a Goblin about retrieving the books Harry had been given by the Tokyo Gringotts and resetting his portkey locket to the Sydney property. Both matters of business only took an hour, but they agreed that rounding up a wand for Heero and other supplies would have to wait until after the Gundam was safely hidden at the safe house.

Duo had slipped off the boat behind the mysterious pair, staying in the shadows as he followed them through the port town. It was going well, though there was a couple times that he thought Heero might have spotted him, until the two suddenly seemed to disappear into thin air. Stopping in shock, Duo stared into the alley they had just entered. The two boys could not have been out of his sight for more than five seconds, yet when he went to follow them, there was nothing there but a dead end alley.

They had casually walked passed the pet shop and started to down the alley that divided it from the neighboring restaurant, yet Duo could see no evidence of where they could have gone. There were no side entrances to the buildings in the alley. Looking closer at the first shop, there was nothing strange about it. The pet shop had a variety of kittens and puppies in the front windows and a wide selection of leashes, collars, toys, and other accessories to be seen on the walls and shelves within. All of it perfectly normal. Confusion and curiosity spiking, Duo crossed the alleyway. A few moments later, Duo stepped in front of the small Chinese restaurant. He again peered in the windows but found nothing out of the ordinary to be seen. Stepping back into the alley Duo looked around again, but found nothing different. A few stacks of boxes, a dumpster, and a bit of loose trash were scattered around the alley. There were no exits that he could find anywhere, so where did they go?

What the hell was going on!?

Determined to figure out what was going on, Duo crossed the street and found a place that have him a good view of the mysterious alley. If they had disappeared here, then more than likely they would reappear here, and he was prepared to wait and find out.

* * *

It took an hour, but Duo's patience, or stubbornness if you wanted to be honest, paid off, and Heero and Harry stepped back into view just as abruptly as they disappeared. Glancing around quickly, Duo found the road to be clear, so he stepped forward determined to get some answers.

As the two stopped to discuss getting back to the boat, Harry was surprised to see Duo coming across the street toward them. Seeing the confused and determined expression on his face, Harry swallowed hard. What had the other pilot seen? "Heero," Harry said quietly nodding toward the approaching brunette.

Heero turned slightly to see what Harry was indicating and frowned hard. So he hadn't just been paranoid this morning; they had been followed. Damn it! "He must have followed us from the boat this morning," Heero murmured as they waited for Duo to catch up with them.

Harry's attempt to ask Heero why he hadn't said anything earlier was aborted when the sound of shrieking breaks pulled his attention back to the street.

Just in time to see Duo rammed by a speeding car!

* * *

Both Harry and Heero darted forward toward the fallen teenager. Harry spared a fast glance around for the driver only to see the tail light of the car disappear around the corner just down the road. Grinding his teeth together, Harry examined Duo as best he could without moving him. It was obvious that his right leg was injured, and there was a bloody gash on the side of his forehead.

"We can't take him to the hospital, can we?" Harry whispered to the pilot that had taken up position at Duo's head in case he regained consciousness and tried to move.

Heero silently shook his head, trying to figure out what they should do.

Glancing around to find the street was empty, Harry responded, "Can you carry him? If we can get him to the house, it should be stocked with potions and bandages. I'll patch him up as best I can."

Again Heero didn't respond verbally, but carefully slipped his arms under the brunette's legs and shoulders and stood. Thanks to his training and Doctor J's tampering, Heero was able to lift the other boy with ease, though it did throw him a bit off balance.

"Come on," Harry said as he led him into the mouth of the alley. After they were completely hidden by the anti-muggle wards, Harry turned and placed a hand on Heero's shoulder. "The portkey feels like a hook catching you around the stomach and landing from them always messes with my balance."

When Heero nodded his understanding, Harry brought his other hand to the locket at his neck and activated the portkey to his Sydney house. Feeling the familiar sensation, Harry wondered how they were going to explain all this to Duo when he came around.


End file.
